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Why Is Trump in a Joint Defense Agreement with Manafort If Rudy Concedes Manafort May Have "Colluded"?

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emptywheel
Rudy has now conceded that Trump's campaign manager, Paul Manafort, may have "colluded" with the Russians. So what does it say that the President is in a Joint Defense Agreement with a guy that appears to have "colluded" during the election?
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William Barr's Asymmetric Confusion about Shitty Mueller Reporting

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emptywheel
Barr appears to be an arrogant man who believes right wing propaganda is sufficient evidence to base policy decisions on. But he also has a better idea of what the regulations say to expect from a Mueller report -- as distinct from Mueller indictments -- than the Senators questioning him did. 
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Manafort Was Pursuing a Ukrainian "Peace" Deal Well After He Was Charged for Lying about Being an Agent of Ukraine

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emptywheel
The exhibits in Mueller's latest filing make it clear that Paul Manafort was still trying to pitch a "peace" deal for Ukraine as recently as May 2018 -- at a time when he was making undisclosed ongoing attempts to reach out to the White House.
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The Lady (Trump's Tantrum) or the Tiger (GOP Senators Get Spines) [UPDATE-2]

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Rayne
So what's your pick, GOP senators? Which door — the one with the figurative Lady and all the chaos she brings, or the one with the swiftly dispatching Tiger?
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Compromise: Sally Yates' Warning about Vulnerability to Blackmail Applied to Trump Even More than Mike Flynn

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emptywheel
When -- the day before Trump fired Jim Comey -- Sally Yates laid out how lying about his conversations about sanctions with Sergey Kislyak made Mike Flynn vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians, she did not know that that applied even more to Donald Trump.
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Graphic: Quino Al via Unsplash (mod by Rayne)
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The Shutdown, Day 23: An Apology, A Prod, and a Call

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Rayne
There are very few people who deserve this mess. None of them are so-called non-essential employees of the U.S.
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William Barr Falsely Denies His Mueller Memo Makes the Case for Impeachment

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emptywheel
William Barr has released his opening statement for his confirmation hearing tomorrow. While it surely is tailored to address the biggest concerns about his nomination, there's a lot to like about it. He suggests he's not as big of a hawk…
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The Supreme Court Has Already Agreed that the Mystery Appellant Caused a "Direct Effect" in the United States

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emptywheel
Assuming the Mystery Appellant really did challenge a Mueller subpoena, that means the Supreme Court has already agreed with a Mueller argument that a company owned by a foreign
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Trump's "Official Acts" to Pay Off a Russian Bribe Should Make Impeachment a Legal Issue, Not Just a Political One

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emptywheel
Since Rashida Tlaib raised the stakes on impeaching Trump, both sides have treated impeachment as a political question. But if Mueller names Trump in a bribery conspiracy, it may make it clearer that it is also a legal one.
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Divisional Playoffs 2019

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bmaz
Getting close to the home stretch in the NFL. There are four games this weekend, and the first one up is Colts at Chiefs. The weather looks to be very nasty, with below freezing temps and snow already accumulating. It will be interesting to…
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A Less Obvious Question about NYT's Reporting on Trump-Russia

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Rayne
Over the last several years, one thing has bothered me about The New York Times, something not immediately obvious in these related pieces of what may be the most important work the paper published since the early 2000s.
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[Photo: Emily Morter via Unsplash]

Stays: Another Reason for the Shutdown?

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Rayne
Footdragging. A means to buy time at the expense of federal employees, contractors, and everyone who is served by or serves them. Bah.
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Paul Manafort's Ongoing Conspiracy with Suspected Russian Agent Konstantin Kilimnik

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emptywheel
It doesn't actually help Paul Manafort's story much that he was sharing data with pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs rather than a Russian one.
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21 People with the Power to Stop the Madness [UPDATE-2]

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Rayne
It's bloody annoying to hear ignoramuses who should know better blaming the wrong people for the mess we're in. 21 people could fix this right now.
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Twitter Only Had SMS 2FA When Hal Martin's Twitter Account DMed Kaspersky

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emptywheel
Kim Zetter has a story that explains the back story to FBI's interest in Hal Martin. But I wonder whether there isn't a back story to her back story?
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Oleg Deripaska Met Sergei Millian at the St. Petersburg Forum Michael Cohen Would Have Met Putin

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emptywheel
Oleg Deripaska met with Sergei Millian at the same St. Petersburg Forum where Michael Cohen would have negotiated a Trump Tower deal with Vladimir Putin.
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Manafort Claims He Can't Be a Witness to Trump's Conspiracy with Russia because He Managed the Campaign

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emptywheel
Manafort is excusing his forgetfulness about anything that might show a conspiracy between him, while he was campaign manager for the Trump campaign, and Kilimnik, by saying his activities as campaign manager prevent him from remembering conspiring with Kilimnik while working for the campaign. 
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There's No Crisis at the Border — There's a Crisis in the White House

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Rayne
There's no crisis at the border -- unless you are an asylum-seeking child fleeing violence, or an American citizen seeking lawful, competent leadership.
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Manafort's Redaction Fail Tells Trump that Mueller Caught Him Lying about His Russian Handler, Konstantin Kilimnik

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emptywheel
Boy do I look stupid! This morning, I suggested that Robert Mueller had finally found a way to shut Paul Manafort up. Then I went away for a few hours, and come back to discover Manafort's filing on the lies he got caught telling about the information…
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Trump's 200 Million Inauguration Visitors and $15 Million Net Worth: The Scale of His Border Lies

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emptywheel
If Trump's two most famous lies were told on the same scale as his lies about terrorists coming across the southern border, he'd have had 200 million people at his inauguration but be worth only $15 million.
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