Ret. LT. Col. Ralph Peters: I can’t imagine a more serious national security threat than a U.S. president who is compromised by Russia, "the most hostile foreign power we face." https://t.co/ynmuV5Ssgy— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 2, 2018
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Ret. LT. Col. Ralph Peters: I can’t imagine a more serious national security threat than a U.S. president who is compromised by Russia, "the most hostile foreign power we face."
Defense Sec. Mattis says Putin tried to “muck around” in U.S. elections last month. @Acosta: “That’s pretty striking given the fact that just before those midterms, ... Trump admin officials were trying to downplay this notion."
Defense Sec. Mattis says Putin tried to “muck around” in U.S. elections last month. @Acosta: “That’s pretty striking given the fact that just before those midterms, ... Trump admin officials were trying to downplay this notion." https://t.co/TVniMqt2ou pic.twitter.com/gZsSpXYQfU— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) December 1, 2018
Explosive device set off at US consulate in Mexican city.
Explosive device set off at US consulate in Mexican city. https://t.co/UusT9KOeGm— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) December 2, 2018
During his #G20Summit2018 press conference, Putin takes great pleasure in mockingly pointing out that "two little boats gifted to #Ukraine by the U.S. couldn't even get through the #KerchStrait."
P.S. As usual, Putin lied. Those aren't the same boats. Nonetheless, Putin's comment serves as another reminder of his flagrant contempt towards the United States.https://t.co/CZHPYsufwo— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) December 1, 2018
There is strong evidence emerging that Republicans stole a Congressional seat in North Carolina by destroying, falsifying, and manipulating absentee ballots.
There is strong evidence emerging that Republicans stole a Congressional seat in North Carolina by destroying, falsifying, and manipulating absentee ballots.— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 1, 2018
This is an affront to democracy.
They can’t be allowed to get away with it.https://t.co/42DQXbh9Ox
#UPDATE President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Russia and OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia had agreed to renew a pact on oil production cuts, as crude prices slump on global markets
#UPDATE President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Russia and OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia had agreed to renew a pact on oil production cuts, as crude prices slump on global markets https://t.co/6dNE0Gkqrq— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 1, 2018
Cyrus Vance...Hmm I heard that name before
Cyrus Vance...Hmm I heard that name before...https://t.co/NG4AFlYIuw pic.twitter.com/nlVhEc792L— FormerATCS (@DCATSCVA) December 2, 2018
The Secret Service sends our heartfelt condolences on the passing of Former President George H.W. Bush. Timberwolf, you defined patriotism and leadership throughout your life of service to this country and you will be sorely missed.
The Secret Service sends our heartfelt condolences on the passing of Former President George H.W. Bush. Timberwolf, you defined patriotism and leadership throughout your life of service to this country and you will be sorely missed. pic.twitter.com/qof2DRNX0B— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) December 1, 2018
Mattis condemns Russia for 'brazen' violation of treaty with Ukraine
Mattis condemns Russia for 'brazen' violation of treaty with Ukraine https://t.co/zxSMHaWG0X— Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) December 1, 2018
Well, we know how Putin sees it, time to arm & train Ukraine more than we are doing now. International advisors in Ukraine would also deter a full blown invasion by Putin
Well, we know how Putin sees it, time to arm & train Ukraine more than we are doing now. International advisors in Ukraine would also deter a full blown invasion by Putin— Pete EVANS (@911CORLEBRA777) December 1, 2018
H/t @akihheikkinen @thespybrief @LouiseMensch @counterchekist @ericgarland https://t.co/CXQRf9VUC9
One could call them the opportunists.
One could call them the opportunists. https://t.co/Q8Ed8wbKOZ— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) December 1, 2018
Mattis: Russia interfered in 2018 midterms
πΊπΈππΊπΈ https://t.co/kegcq7mI1w— #ZeroFucksGiven (@JedGarren) December 1, 2018
White House confirms that Trump had an “informal” conversation with Putin during a G-20 leaders’ dinner last night.
White House confirms that Trump had an “informal” conversation with Putin during a G-20 leaders’ dinner last night.— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) December 1, 2018
Trump and Xi’s G-20 dinner could decide fate of U.S.-China trade war
Trump and Xi’s G-20 dinner could decide fate of U.S.-China trade war https://t.co/onaqmsNcFt— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 1, 2018
Let's not forget that #TraitorTrump gave DA Vance a big fat campaign check after her spared Kremlin Barbie and Uday Trump. This criminal DA could have saved our Republic from the Trump crime family,tookva bribe instead.
Let's not forget that #TraitorTrump gave DA Vance a big fat campaign check after her spared Kremlin Barbie and Uday Trump. This criminal DA could have saved our Republic from the Trump crime family,tookva bribe instead. https://t.co/deI6eTJr6L— #ZeroFucksGiven (@JedGarren) December 1, 2018
Lots of witches
Lots of witches pic.twitter.com/ur175S0Mcp— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) December 1, 2018
After FBI raids Ald. Ed Burke's offices, people seen leaving his ward office carrying boxes and computer equipment. FBI has confirmed "our agents are executing search warrants at multiple locations today."
After FBI raids Ald. Ed Burke's offices, people seen leaving his ward office carrying boxes and computer equipment. FBI has confirmed "our agents are executing search warrants at multiple locations today." https://t.co/SbUGomj2JZ pic.twitter.com/cT4eLF41xz— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) November 29, 2018
I’m throughly enjoying the “blame Sessions!” argument for Mueller’s case.
I’m throughly enjoying the “blame Sessions!” argument for Mueller’s case.— Counterchekist (@counterchekist) December 1, 2018
“We could’ve escaped all these other felonies if [fill in name] had just been cool about it and committed Obstruction of Justice” = cry story of mobsters and losers the world over. #MAGA
It's all over for Trump now -- except for the indictments, the kompromat, the futile rage-tweets, the felony convictions, and the asset forfeiture. And Mueller's not even Don's real problem: Putin is.
My latest BOOM! ===>— John Schindler (@20committee) November 30, 2018
It's all over for Trump now -- except for the indictments, the kompromat, the futile rage-tweets, the felony convictions, and the asset forfeiture.
And Mueller's not even Don's real problem: Putin is.https://t.co/hjgS1Ce6SO
Pence shares picture of himself meeting SWAT officer with a QAnon conspiracy patch
Pence shares picture of himself meeting SWAT officer with a QAnon conspiracy patch https://t.co/JDEGEzwZIj— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 1, 2018
Bill Browder on Putin's Kleptocracy & A "Cold War Against Crime"
Was in Dublin yesterday to launch the Irish Magnitsky Act. Had a great 45 minute Podcast convo with @hlinehan at the @IrishTimes. We discussed how the Magnitsky Act is the new tool in the “Cold War against crime” https://t.co/VqUjRCPe9S— Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) December 1, 2018
All the times Trump tried (and failed) to land property projects in Russia
All the times Trump tried (and failed) to land property projects in Russia:— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) December 1, 2018
π¨ 1987: Luxury hotel
π️ 1996: Revamp of 2 derelict hotels
π️ 2004: Tower in skyscraper district
π️ 2013: Tower outside Moscow
π© 2016: Moscow tower https://t.co/RClBhK5zdA via @bopinion
About 8 in 10 Americans believe the climate is changing, causing extreme weather. Two-thirds of Republicans believe the same thing. A majority of Americans (54%) consider it a "very serious" problem, according to a new Monmouth University poll
About 8 in 10 Americans believe the climate is changing, causing extreme weather. Two-thirds of Republicans believe the same thing. A majority of Americans (54%) consider it a "very serious" problem, according to a new Monmouth University poll https://t.co/Cj1AEAO8mC— CNN (@CNN) December 1, 2018
Chinese companies find a Trump tariff workaround by relocating operations to Vietnam
Chinese companies find a Trump tariff workaround by relocating operations to Vietnam https://t.co/Yt6dTEvLlu— Trade News Analysis (@TradeNewsCentre) December 1, 2018
Pissed about Kavanaugh? Read about Kennedy’s son role at Deutschebank securing billions in Trump loans...
Pissed about Kavanaugh? Read about Kennedy’s son role at Deutschebank securing billions in Trump loans... https://t.co/Obe8OfkEhV— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) December 1, 2018
Breakdown of where Koch money went last year.
Breakdown of where Koch money went last year. https://t.co/ZhtQyziK33— blmohr (@blmohr) December 1, 2018
U.S. President George H.W. Bush on tRump: "I don't like him. I don't know much about him, but I know he's a blowhard."
U.S. President George H.W. Bush on tRump: "I don't like him. I don't know much about him, but I know he's a blowhard." https://t.co/WnEmMN6dvt https://t.co/HKmZTZdHkA— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) December 1, 2018
THREAD: What does Michael Cohen's sentencing submission tell us about his cooperation against Trump and the potential involvement of others in his criminal conduct? (Short answer: A lot more than you might expect)
1/ Late on Friday night, Michael Cohen's attorneys filed his sentencing submission. It is really worth a read: https://t.co/sRZFwcXWsd— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 1, 2018
- 2/ A sentencing memorandum is a document that defense attorneys write and submit to a court before a client is sentenced so that the judge can consider all of the facts and circumstances surrounding their client and his conduct when he is sentenced.4 replies53 retweets235 likes
- 3/ Judges are required to consider the "history and characteristics" of the defendant as well as the "nature and circumstances" of the offense, so the types of information provided in a sentencing memorandum can be extensive.2 replies46 retweets223 likes
- 4/ In many cases, there are disputes between the prosecutors and defense about what the defendant did, what sentencing guidelines apply to the defendant, or what the sentence should be. In the case of a cooperator like Cohen, I expect the only disagreement to be the sentence.1 reply40 retweets218 likes
- 5/ It's important to note that if a cooperator like Cohen made a false factual assertion about his cooperation or his criminal activity, the prosecutors would make that known to the judge. You can be confident that this document is consistent with Mueller's knowledge.1 reply45 retweets240 likes
- 6/ It is carefully written by an attorney who was a former high-ranking federal prosecutor in New York who knows that if he said something false or misleading, the New York federal prosecutors would make the judge aware of the falsehood and he would be very much worse off.2 replies46 retweets238 likes
- 7/ I give you this background because there is very interesting information in this document, and part of what makes it interesting is that the info is specific and is made in the context where we can feel confident in its accuracy, even though it's written by an advocate.1 reply46 retweets260 likes
- 8/ The most interesting thing in the document, by far, is Cohen's discussion of his false statements to Congress. His attorneys carefully discuss the false statements, his motivation to make the false statement, and the involvement of Trump's staff and attorneys.3 replies65 retweets285 likes
- 9/ Because the precision of their words is important, I'm going to type out their exact words here. They refer to Trump as "Client-1" throughout but I've changed that to "Trump" here for clarity:1 reply43 retweets205 likes
- 10/ "Michael's false statements to Congress likewise sprung regrettably from Michael's effort, as a loyal ally and then champion of Trump, to support and advance Trump's political messaging. At the time that he was requested to appear before . . ."1 reply47 retweets223 likes
- 11/ "the [House and Senate Intel Committees], Michael was serving as personal attorney to the President, and followed daily the political messages that both Trump and his staff and supporters repeatedly and forcefully broadcast."2 replies40 retweets203 likes
- 12/ "Furthermore, in the weeks during which his then-counsel prepared his written response to the Congressional Committees, Michael remained in close and regular contact with White House based-staff and legal counsel to Trump."3 replies60 retweets249 likes
- 13/ That last sentence is extremely important and interesting. It is also very carefully worded. The sentence strongly implies that White House staff and Trump's attorneys knew in advance that Cohen would lie to Congress and were involved in crafting his statements.9 replies109 retweets375 likes
- 14/ But it does *not* come out and say that. It is important to note that Cohen's attorney does not allege that Cohen was *directed* to lie to Congress. Yet Cohen's lawyer has not been shy about having him say that Trump directed him to commit the campaign finance violations.2 replies45 retweets246 likes
- 15/ If he could truthfully say that Cohen was *directed* to lie, I believe he would be obligated to do so because it would be a mitigating fact that the judge should consider. But Cohen's attorney suggests that Cohen felt pressure to lie and that Trump's staff and attorneys knew.2 replies49 retweets238 likes
- 16/ Essentially what Cohen's attorney is saying is that Cohen read Trump's anti-Mueller messaging (discussed at length in the memorandum), knew that he was supposed to be consistent with Trump's lies, and did so.2 replies50 retweets224 likes
- 17/ He was also in "close and regular contact" with White House staff and Trump's lawyers about what he would say. The implication is that they knew the testimony he was going to provide to Congress was false and let him go forward and lie, or at least didn't correct the record.4 replies53 retweets271 likes
- 18/ So do Trump's staff members and attorneys have any liability? Possibly, although it appears that they tried to be careful to mislead Congress and the public in a manner that would not create personal liability.7 replies41 retweets205 likes
- 19/ Specifically, it sounds like they knew Cohen would lie to Congress and didn’t stop him or correct the record. But they didn’t tell him what lies to say or direct him to lie because *they didn’t have to.” Cohen read Trump’s lies and knew he was supposed to repeat them.5 replies56 retweets214 likes
- 20/ Depending on what Trump’s staff and attorneys knew, this could very well be a conspiracy to lie to Congress, which is a crime. (A conspiracy is just an agreement to commit a crime.) But it may be extremely difficult to prove based on what Cohen’s attorney said.8 replies48 retweets206 likes
- 21/ What it would take to prove a conspiracy of that nature is testimony from another co-conspirator (a Trump attorney or staffer) that their conversations with Cohen were a way for him to run his lies past them for approval, and they approved the lies.7 replies41 retweets183 likes
- 22/ Emails or other documentation proving that point would also potentially prove a conspiracy along those lines. I suspect that Mueller and House Democrats will try to find out what evidence exists of knowledge, approval, or coordination of Cohen’s lies.3 replies36 retweets169 likes
- 23/ If all that happened is that Cohen told them he would lie and they didn’t stop him, that is not a crime, which is why they may have just listened. Their silence and failure to stop him was their approval, but also makes it hard to prove they were aware of his lies.4 replies31 retweets146 likes
- 24/ Their defense would be that Cohen testified about many matters and that they weren’t focused on these specific portions of his testimony, and/or that they didn’t even know those portions of his testimony were false at the time. Prosecutors would have to prove otherwise.2 replies23 retweets127 likes
- 25/ That is why emails or testimony from some of them would likely be needed to support a conviction. So what does the rest of the sentencing memorandum say? Quite a bit.6 replies23 retweets150 likes
- 26/ First, the sentencing memorandum repeats the statement Cohen made under oath that Trump directed Cohen to commit the campaign finance violations, and provides important context to help the judge understand those violations and Trump's involvement in them.1 reply32 retweets154 likes
- 27/ Specifically, Cohen "kept his client [Trump] contemporaneously informed and acted on his client's instructions. This is not an excuse, and Michael accepts that he acted wrongfully ..."1 reply26 retweets145 likes
- 28/ "... Nevertheless, we respectfully request that the Court consider that as personal counsel to Trump, Michael felt obligated to assist Trump, on Trump's instruction, to attempt to prevent Woman-1 and Woman-2 from disseminating narratives ..."2 replies30 retweets134 likes
- 29/ "... that would adversely affect the Campaign *and* cause personal embarrassment to Trump and his family." That last line is an attempt by Cohen's attorney to suggest that the offense is less serious than if the payments were just meant to influence the election.3 replies28 retweets136 likes
- 30/ That is *not* a legal defense. It's a crime nonetheless, and Cohen acknowledges that. His attorney minimizes the conduct because his job is to provide context that would reduce Cohen's sentence. He's doing his job.1 reply25 retweets128 likes
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