
The Shiny Object of the May 2017 Russian Investigation: The Evidence Mostly Came in after August 1
The press' focus on what happened in May 2017, rather than what happened after August 1, totally obfuscates the history of the Russia investigation.

The NYT "Scoop" Appears To Be an Effort to Spin Opening an Investigation into Trump as an Erratic Act
Today's document dump appears to be an attempt to spin the decision to open a formal investigation into the President as the product of erratic Rod Rosenstein behavior.

NYT Gives Trump His Excuse to Fire Rod Rosenstein
None of the people the NYT cites as sources for the allegation that Rod Rosenstein was acting erratically in the days when he appointed Robert Mueller were, according to NYT's own descriptions, actual witnesses of his actions.

Brett Kavanaugh's Character Witnesses: Ken Starr, Bill Shine, and Donald Trump
Over the last week, some pretty curious character witnesses have come out to insist that Brett Kavanaugh is a nice man who would never sexually assault someone else.
First, there's Ken Starr, who judged that Christine Blasey Ford had had…

The Assange Exfiltration Would Have Taken Place in the Wake of Joshua Schulte Tor Activity
The timing of the reported exfiltration attempt of Assange last year is particularly telling, as it happened when things were falling apart for accused Vault 7 leaker Joshua Schulte.

The Committee Playing Games with Perjury Referrals Swears They Can Make Mark Judge Tell the Truth without Testifying
Chuck Grassley promises Mark Judge will be referred for perjury charges if he lies to the Senate Judiciary Committee. But that's what he said to Don Jr before Don Jr lied to the committee.

In Putin's Russia, Trolls Fool Even You
A NYT story on the Russian influence operation relays Russian propaganda while calling out Trump supporters as if they're the only ones who get fooled by propaganda.

In media res: the FBI's WannaCry Attribution
There's a big gap in the FBI timeline blaming WannaCry on North Korea.

Donald Trump's Bubble May Be Robert Mueller's Greatest Weapon
Robert Mueller has a slew of really good lawyers working for him. But I think his biggest asset is Donald Trump's bubble.
Consider this NYT story, in which a bunch of lawyers anonymously blame each other for getting 16 months into the Special…

Trump Wants Voters -- and Russia -- to Know What the Russia Investigation Looked Like on August 1, 2017, not September 14, 2018
In a desperate gambit to lead voters to forget that his campaign manager just turned state's evidence against him, the President is going to roll out a shit-ton of evidence about what the investigation looked like before evidence of the conspiracy Trump entered into with the Russians.

Father Doesn't Know Best: Kavanaugh and Women's Unshared Traumas
The revelation of Christine Blasey Ford's name and the release of her letter to Senator Feinstein triggered memories for many of us, most quite painful. We come forward now to say this is enough.

Have Mark Judge Testify Along with Christine Blasey Ford (and Kavanaugh)
If SJC is going to have Christine Blasey Ford testify on the attempted rape she alleges she suffered at the hands of Brett Kavanaugh in high school, let's also have the witness, Mark Judge, who will have to testify to how much the two drank.

Manafort Turns State's Evidence: "It's Time for Some Game Theory"
Trump needs his fellow Republicans to believe that Paul Manafort isn't providing evidence that incriminates him. Because if they start to believe that, their calculations behind support for him may change, and change quickly.

Paul Manafort's Modus Operandi: Accuse the Female Politician of Crimes She Didn't Commit, Then Dodge Sanctions
I think Mueller included a chunk of exhibits in Paul Manafort's plea deal not just to prove one of his charges, but to preview coming attractions on how Paul Manafort ran Trump's campaign based on what he had done for years for Viktor Yanukovych.

Manafort Plea Agreement Weekend Trash Talk
Okay, this post will have nothing to do with Manafort's plea. But this is the big weekend after the Friday of Manafort, and Trash must be talked. This will be a bit of truncated Trash because , well, I am tired after an early morning yesterday…

A Comparison of Rick Gates and Paul Manafort's Plea Deals
The most interesting difference between the Manafort and Gates plea agreements is that Gates' plea included a gag order. Manafort's doesn't.

The Objection that Made Mueller's Case
I suspect Manafort's cooperation became inevitable when Greg Andres successfully prevented Manafort from entering details about what Rick Gates had told Mueller into evidence in his EDVA trial.

Checkmate: The Manafort Cooperation Is Pardon Proof
It's now officially too late for Trump to prevent the damage that Paul Manafort's testimony against him will do with a pardon.

Paul Manafort's $46 Million Plea Deal
Paul Manafort's plea deal gets rid of a bunch of charges. But it requires him to forfeit $46 million in ill-gotten goods.

What Paulson, Bernanke, Geithner and Neil Irwin Don’t Get
The elites do not grasp the anger about the lack of accountability for the people who caused the Great Crash.
