US politics general thread

[Unhappy438]

Officials seek warrant to enter Cambridge Analytica HQ

The information commissioner is seeking an urgent court warrant to enter the London headquarters of the elections consultancy Cambridge Analytica after the firm was caught in an undercover sting boasting about entrapping politicians, using honey traps and running fake news campaigns.

Elizabeth Denham said she had also demanded that Facebook halt a data audit of Cambridge Analytica, saying it could prejudice her investigation.

Cyber-security consultants from Stroz Friedberg, who had been engaged by Facebook to do the audit, were at CA’s office in London on Monday evening when the ICO asked them to leave so the authorities could pursue their own investigation.

An ICO spokesman said the commission had issued a demand to access CA’s records and data.

“Cambridge Analytica has not responded to the commissioner by the deadline provided; therefore, the information commissioner is seeking a warrant to obtain information and access to systems and evidence related to her investigation,” the spokesman said.

Full article: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-seek-warrant-to-enter-cambridge-analytica-hq

 

[C4Cat]

It's quite shocking how complacent not just Republicans but also Dems have been about all this. Trump's latest run of misbehavior is quite unprecedented and he gets minimal pushback on any of it.

The democrats are quite useless and the republicans are afraid to lose the positions they have under trump.
If a democrat had done a tiny portion of what trump has got away with, the republicans would have ensured that he either never made it to the final running to be president or would have blocked him after the fact. Trump has been allowed to get away with so much already though that the bar is now low enough that people don't even register something is wrong - simply because it's not as bad as what he's got away with before. The people voted Trump into the presidency and must face the consequences. I still have no doubt that this will end in impeachment...

 

[Xarog]

Sessions’s apparent ground for firing McCabe, on the eve of his retirement from the Bureau, thus perhaps depriving him of some or all of his retirement benefits, involves improper contacts with the news media.

Actually it's called lying to the FBI while under oath. That's the crime Mike Flynn was charged with, remember?

As an initial matter, this is rich, coming from an Administration that has leaked to the media with abandon.

You must think the current administration isn't trying to shut down the leaks. :crylaugh:

I don't actually have the energy to bother with the rest of the fake news you're spewing. I have a feeling you won't like IG Horowitz report when it finally lands.

 

[The_Assimilator]

I have a feeling you won't like IG Horowitz report when it finally lands.

Considering that literally everything you've claimed to be some sort of bombshell against the Dems has either turned out to be an extremely damp squib or something that actually makes the Repubs look bad... you probably shouldn't be a bomb maker.

 

[Xarog]

Considering that literally everything you've claimed to be some sort of bombshell against the Dems has either turned out to be an extremely damp squib or something that actually makes the Repubs look bad... you probably shouldn't be a bomb maker.

You do know what Horowitz is investigating, right?

 

[OrbitalDawn]

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/donald-trump-and-the-craven-firing-of-andrew-mccabe

If anyone believes McCabe got fired because he was unfair to Clinton or was dishonest, there's probably a long list of Nigerian scams they've fallen for. It's about as believable as Comey being fired for being unfair to Clinton.

I mean, Trump literally isn't even trying to use this obviously nonsense pretext, just as he didn't with Comey's firing.

The democrats are quite useless and the republicans are afraid to lose the positions they have under trump.
If a democrat had done a tiny portion of what trump has got away with, the republicans would have ensured that he either never made it to the final running to be president or would have blocked him after the fact. Trump has been allowed to get away with so much already though that the bar is now low enough that people don't even register something is wrong - simply because it's not as bad as what he's got away with before. The people voted Trump into the presidency and must face the consequences. I still have no doubt that this will end in impeachment...

Heard an interesting thing recently. "If he was 1/10th as bad, he would seem worse." It's because he's a firehose of BS and scandal that it's impossible to keep up and it buries all the other bad stuff.

 

[The_Assimilator]

If anyone believes McCabe got fired because he was unfair to Clinton or was dishonest, there's probably a long list of Nigerian scams they've fallen for.

NYT says otherwise: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/...column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

A Justice Department review is expected to criticize the former F.B.I. deputy director, Andrew G. McCabe, for authorizing the disclosure of information about a continuing investigation to journalists, according to four people familiar with the inquiry.

Everything I've read about Horowitz indicates he's a straight shooter, so there might be some smoke there. Definitely not on the level of what Xarog is claiming (it never is), but probably enough that the GOP will be able to blow that moehill into a mountain to paint McCabe and Comey in a bad enough light that the good things they've done get forgotten, much like Peter Strzok.

But unfortunately that sort of one-sided yellow journalism is more than enough for the GOP sand its cretinous supporters.

 

[Xarog]

If anyone believes McCabe got fired because he was unfair to Clinton or was dishonest, there's probably a long list of Nigerian scams they've fallen for. It's about as believable as Comey being fired for being unfair to Clinton.

I mean, Trump literally isn't even trying to use this obviously nonsense pretext, just as he didn't with Comey's firing.

http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/30/democrats-andy-mccabe-hillary-clinton-investigation/

Democrats were thrilled in January 2017 when Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz launched a probe into the DOJ and FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Two House Democrats, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings and Michigan Rep. John Conyers, first requested an IG investigation into the FBI over alleged illegal leaks damaging to Clinton in an Oct. 4 2016 letter.

Horowitz, an Obama appointee, announced his investigation into the FBI and DOJ’s handling of the Clinton probe four months later in January. Cummings praised Horowitz’s decision at the time, saying the investigation was needed to stave off a “crisis of legitimacy” at the FBI.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...4bfff693d2b_story.html?utm_term=.607f8639419b

Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz has for some time been working on a report that blasts McCabe for allowing two high-ranking bureau officials to sit down with the Wall Street Journal as the news outlet prepared a report in 2016 on an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s family foundation, then misleading the inspector general’s team about his actions. A person familiar with the matter said Horowitz’s findings are what sparked the Office of Professional Responsibility’s recommendation, which was first reported by the New York Times. Horowitz’s report has not been released, and McCabe denies having misled anyone, a person familiar with the case said.

So how did Trump get to Horowitz, OD? Cuz if he didn't, then it actually turns out Trump had nothing to do with the recommendation (well, unless we're dealing with WaPo woppers again), and unless you can point to a good reason to ignore a finding by the FBI's version of an internal affairs investigation, then there's no reason why Sessions shouldn't have fired McCabe.

 

[Xarog]

NYT says otherwise: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/...st-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news



Everything I've read about Horowitz indicates he's a straight shooter, so there might be some smoke there. Definitely not on the level of what Xarog is claiming (it never is), but probably enough that the GOP will be able to blow that moehill into a mountain to paint McCabe and Comey in a bad enough light that the good things they've done get forgotten, much like Peter Strzok.

But unfortunately that sort of one-sided yellow journalism is more than enough for the GOP sand its cretinous supporters.

:crylaugh:

Dude.

So McCabe said as part of his response to his firing that he had authorisation to speak to the WSJ. Since he was #2 in the FBI, that authorisation could only come from the #1 at the FBI, Comey. But Comey testified while under oath that he never gave such authorisation to anyone. So one of them is lying. Now that on its own might not seem like much, but Comey also testified that none of the people at the FBI thought that Flynn had lied in his testimony. It later turns out that this is what Flynn was charged for.

Investigative journalist Sara Carter reported on Fox News last night that outgoing FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe may be in serious trouble if the information she had received from FBI sources proves to be true.

"I have been told tonight by a number of sources ... that McCabe may have asked FBI agents to actually change their 302s," Carter told host Sean Hannity.

The 302 form contains information from the notes an FBI agent takes during an interview of a subject. It is used by FBI agents to "report or summarize the interviews that they conduct."

"So basically every time an FBI agent interviews a witness, they have to go back and file a report," Carter explained.

Hannity pointed out that, if true, it would constitute a case of obstruction of justice, and Carter agreed. She said the matter was being investigated by FBI Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/report-mccabe-may-asked-fbi-agents-change-302-forms/

According to two sources familiar with the meetings, Comey told lawmakers that the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe that Flynn had lied to them, or that any inaccuracies in his answers were intentional. As a result, some of those in attendance came away with the impression that Flynn would not be charged with a crime pertaining to the Jan. 24 interview.

Nine months later, with Comey gone and special counsel Robert Mueller in charge of the Trump-Russia investigation, Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the FBI in that Jan. 24 questioning.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...idnt-think-michael-flynn-lied/article/2648896

McCabe was the one in charge of the Flynn investigation. Again, they can't both be right. But here's the thing, McCabe shouldn't have been anywhere near the Flynn investigation because the two have a history. McCabe has harboured a grudge against Flynn ever since Flynn went to bat for one of the women who ran afoul of McCabe in a sex-discrimination lawsuit. He was even heard making an impromptu speech in the FBI that ended with "Fsck Flynn and then we fsck Trump". The fact that his wife received major campaign support from Clinton's political allies and then didn't recuse himself from the Clinton investigation until a week before it was closed also speaks very poorly of his judgement. So what do you think the chances are that Flynn walks because of malicious prosecution?

P.S. I wouldn't speak so highly of Peter Strzok if I were you, the latest batch of revealed texts show that he was discussing how to have a discussion with one judge Contreras without it being perceived as unduly influencing legal matters. That's the same judge who was recused from the Flynn case. Coincedence?

 

[OrbitalDawn]

NYT says otherwise: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/...column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news



Everything I've read about Horowitz indicates he's a straight shooter, so there might be some smoke there. Definitely not on the level of what Xarog is claiming (it never is), but probably enough that the GOP will be able to blow that moehill into a mountain to paint McCabe and Comey in a bad enough light that the good things they've done get forgotten, much like Peter Strzok.

But unfortunately that sort of one-sided yellow journalism is more than enough for the GOP sand its cretinous supporters.

Nothing I said really contradicts that, though.

The 'disclosures to the media' concern a Clinton investigation, not a Trump one.

What we do know is that Trump has been hammering McCabe for months, and has been pressuring Sessions to fire him. And as I said, he didn't even bother to use the pretext but instead tweeted about Comey, who was also fired on a flimsy pretext of being unfair to Clinton in an investigation.

Maybe there is cause, as you say, we won't really know until we've seen the actual reports (maybe not even then, tbh), but firing him before the report is even finished, and explicitly 2 days before his retirement (when Trump has also specifically commented on how close his retirement date is), smacks of obvious political interference for an agenda.

 

[cerebus]

Maybe there is cause, as you say, we won't really know until we've seen the actual reports (maybe not even then, tbh), but firing him before the report is even finished, and explicitly 2 days before his retirement (when Trump has also specifically commented on how close his retirement date is), smacks of obvious political interference for an agenda.

It also smacks of being a sadistic a'hole

 

[OrbitalDawn]

"Law and order" party.

Pennsylvania GOP moves to oust judges over gerrymandering decision

A Pennsylvania state representative has introduced resolutions to impeach four of the five state Supreme Court justices who voted to override congressional district maps they said were unfairly gerrymandered on partisan lines.

The resolutions, introduced by state Rep. Cris Dush (R), accuse Justices Kevin Dougherty, Christine Donohue, Debra McClosky Todd and David Wecht of misbehavior in office.

A fifth resolution to impeach Supreme Court Justice Max Baer is pending introduction.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...bc50284fce8_story.html?utm_term=.615b2161a9b7

President Trump did not follow specific warnings from his national security advisers Tuesday when he congratulated Russian President Vladi*mir Putin on his reelection — including a section in his briefing materials in all-capital letters stating “DO NOT CONGRATULATE,” according to officials familiar with the call.

:crylaugh:

 

[OrbitalDawn]

20,000 Republicans just voted for an actual Nazi

The former head of the American Nazi Party ran for the Republican nomination of Congress in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District. No Republican stepped up to oppose him.

On Tuesday, despite his vocal Holocaust denial, his anti-Semitic rhetoric, and his white supremacist views, 20,339 Illinois Republicans, according to preliminary totals, cast their ballots for Arthur Jones.

Jones’ Nazi-sympathies were not a secret going into election day. His campaign website features a slideshow of pictures of him speaking at white nationalist events.

 

[access]

so by the power of greyskull and the thunderbirds, why did america not influence the russian election. america say they are so much more advanced. this shouldve been a breeze. lol

 

[buka001]

20,000 Republicans just voted for an actual Nazi

Many right leaning individuals are strangely silent over this.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Seems bad.

Saudi Crown Prince Boasted That Jared Kushner Was “In His Pocket”

In late October, Jared Kushner made an unannounced trip to Riyadh, catching some intelligence officials off guard. “The two princes are said to have stayed up until nearly 4 a.m. several nights, swapping stories and planning strategy,” the Washington Post’s David Ignatius reported at the time.

What exactly Kushner and the Saudi royal talked about in Riyadh may be known only to them, but after the meeting, Crown Prince Mohammed told confidants that Kushner had discussed the names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince, according to three sources who have been in contact with members of the Saudi and Emirati royal families since the crackdown.

On November 4, a week after Kushner returned to the U.S., the crown prince, known in official Washington by his initials MBS, launched what he called an anti-corruption crackdown. The Saudi government arrested dozens of members of the Saudi royal family and imprisoned them in the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh, which was first reported in English by The Intercept. The Saudi figures named in the President’s Daily Brief were among those rounded up; at least one was reportedly tortured.

 

[rietrot]

The lamb guy finally won in pennsylvania

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Donald Trump's top Russia lawyer John Dowd resigns

US President Donald Trump's lead lawyer for the special counsel investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 election has resigned, US media report.

John Dowd, 77, is reported to have concluded that Mr Trump was increasingly ignoring his advice.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

The lamb guy finally won in pennsylvania

Despite all the fanfare, he wasn't a run of the mill democrat, so wouldn't really read anything into that result. More a personality battle rather than a political one, I feel