Tuesday, March 07, 2017

Rachel Maddow's fascinating expose on Donald Trump's business ties with the Iranian National Guard.

The inspiration for this segment came from this article by Adam Davidson of the New Yorker:

No evidence has surfaced showing that Donald Trump, or any of his employees involved in the Baku deal, actively participated in bribery, money laundering, or other illegal behavior. But the Trump Organization may have broken the law in its work with the Mammadov family. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, passed in 1977, forbade American companies from participating in a scheme to reward a foreign government official in exchange for material benefit or preferential treatment. The law even made it a crime for an American company to unknowingly benefit from a partner’s corruption if it could have discovered illicit activity but avoided doing so. This closed what was known as the “head in the sand” loophole.

As with everything that swirls around Donald Trump there is a fog of scandal but rarely enough evidence to directly tie him or his company to that scandal.

This episode follows closely on Rachel's other piece on that Russian oligarch following the Trump campaign and evidence of a possible money laundering operation.

There are a lot of loose threads but it appears that Rachel is really starting to tie things together.

43 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:47 AM

    As I listened to this I thought Trump may want Maddox dead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:48 AM

      I had the same chilling thought. She is putting the pieces together in a way that has to be making him crazy. I hope she is watching her back in all the ways. Pathetic that we even have to think such awful things about our president but it's what it is, I put nothing past him and his admin.
      JillyG

      Delete
    2. I had that thought about Baldwin on SNL. How soon before Samantha Bee, Colbert, Oliver are muzzled or canceled by their networks.

      To think we even contemplate such a thing is an indication of how much our sense of freedom -- feeling safe -- as been eroded over the past 5-6 weeks -- weeks!!

      Delete
  2. Anonymous9:07 AM

    What would we do without Rachel Maddow? She is truly the only one (other than Lawrence O'Donnell) putting the facts out there about the fraud and liar, Donald Trump.

    Pay attention America! Trump needs to go down - via impeachment asap. He's pure evil to our country and the world! Satan himself in my estimation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14 AM

      The 'facts' lol?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:51 AM

      Maddow does great research and I've appreciative. However, I think Steve Kornacki & Chris Hayes are better than LO, and in Maddows delivery (which is sometimes a struggle to lizten to)

      Delete
  3. Anonymous9:16 AM

    OT? Mr. Z.
    https://egbertowillies.com/2017/03/07/fareed-zakaria-exposes-u-s-failed-american-dream-exists-successfully-canada-video/

    ReplyDelete
  4. The most infuriating thing is the silence coming from the Republicans in Congress: they're willfully ignoring this mess for as long as possible and innocent people are being affected: their jobs, their freedoms, our very quality of life. All of that is being sacrificed because the rich and powerful are consumed with greed. Sickening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:44 AM

      Americans need to remember this when they go to the polls to vote. If a Republican in the U.S. Congress is up for reelection, do not vote for them!

      Starting with Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

      Republicans are not caring for the folks that put them in office. Pay attention, America! Vote them out of office on the national, state and local levels. They are one horrible bunch of white folks!

      Trump needs to be impeached too!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:47 AM

      "consumed with greed"

      That's the perfect way to describe what's happening in our government. The Republicans could not care less about the people who elected them to office, as long as they can pass legislation that benefits them and their wealthy supporters.

      It's truly appalling to see how much damage these traitors have already done and are planning to do to this country and its people. It will take decades to repair the devastation, if we still have a country left after they're done with their reign of terror.

      Delete
    3. Cheered to hear Obama is back and going to tackle the undemocratic extreme gerrymandering that has prevented a Democratic congress, despite their winning the popular vote.

      For me, that personal opinions/lies are replacing facts is the number one problem we are facing. You can shout/print/explain all the facts, but if half of American don't hear them, or pay them any credence -- what the fuck do we do?

      For supporters to acknowledge their mistake in electing this POS will only expose they have been conned and who is going to admit that?
      Con men bank (literally) on this.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous1:12 PM

      Obama is getting set up to make $$$$$$$$$$$$ and that is about it.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous3:59 PM

      Anon at 1:12 pm. You are either a very mean person or a very jaded person. What has President Obama ever done to you personally that you would write such an unpleasant comment?
      Beaglemom

      Delete
    6. Anonymous6:07 PM

      You don't understand the real world Beaglemom. It is ok.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous8:29 AM

      must be Sarah 359

      Delete
  5. Anonymous9:47 AM

    Herpes on his upper Lip.
    "Do Diligence"...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9:48 AM

    Gryphen thank you for posting Rachel Maddow's video.

    This crooked family should not be in the White House.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9:55 AM

    Ivanka went to this hotel, helping with publicity. WHY? Are all the tRump family members crooked? I wonder if tRump Tower was bugged to listen to tRump's father-in-law's phone calls. How did he enter this country, when he was a high ranking member of the Communist party in his home country? Russian mob members frequent the place, too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:40 AM

      Yep, the three oldest Trump children are crooked as hell. It makes me sick what the Trumps get away with. Maybe there will never be justice. Call me inhumane, but in that case, I will hope something horrible befalls this horror of a family in terms of illness or a horrible accident. It will be the only kind of justice left. It's unacceptable that they have gotten away with murder for decades and just keep doing whatever the hell they want.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:19 AM

    I was up around 2 AM Pacific time watching the early news for the day, and on CNN and MSNBC they were talking about this and said no way does a company not know about who they shouldn't be doing business with when it comes to the issues involved right here in this story. I can't recall who said this, too--maybe it was a replay but maybe it was new news--but for the few million the Trumps would have made on the deal, they'd have had to pay into the hundreds of millions if made to face the consequences for doing business with this connection to the Iranian Guard.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous10:21 AM

    Interesting, that Christopher Steele (dossier intel guy) has resurfaced and gone back to work. Given that so many people have disappeared or ended up dead, he must feel very sure that whatever he did before returning, his safety is ensured.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:46 AM

    No wonder they were hiding this bill and they thought people were angry before, just wait until they read their new “plan”.
    ==============================

    The Latest: Congressmen refute conservative critics of bill
    The Associated Press
    11:00 a.m.

    Rep. Jason Chaffetz says that the GOP's long-awaited health care plan may lead people to put aside money for their health care instead of "getting that new iPhone."
    That's the Utah Republican's advice to consumers who are concerned about the changes to the health care system that may be on the way under the House GOP's long-awaited health care plan.
    The plan puts more emphasis on health savings accounts at the expense of former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, which offers more generous subsidies of insurance premiums.
    To make his point, on CNN's "New Day," Chaffetz advised consumers that instead of buying a new phone "maybe they should invest in their own health care."


    Analysis: GOP plan to cost Obamacare enrollees $1,542 more a year.

    ... We’re presenting an analysis here of the net financial impact of the Republican bill on premiums, after tax credits, plus cost-sharing. We estimate that the bill would increase costs for the average enrollee by $1,542, for the year, if the bill were in effect today. In 2020, the bill would increase costs for the average enrollee by $2,409.

    In general, the impact of the Republican bill would be particularly severe for older individuals, ages 55 to 64. Their costs would increase by $5,269 if the bill went into effect today and by $6,971 in 2020. Individuals with income below 250 percent of the federal poverty line would see their costs increase by $2,945 today and by $4,061 in 2020. .....
    http://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/3/7/14843632/aca-republican-health-care-plan-premiums-cost-price

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:47 AM

    Russia Mocks The US After Their Freedom Destroyer Donald Trump Ruins America

    Donald Trump is already giving Russian President Vladimir Putin everything he ever dreamed of. Russia is laughing at the U.S. now, mocking its self destruction of the very values that made it stand in relief against an authoritarian dictatorship like Putin's.

    Donald Trump ran on making America great again, but he has already severely damaged the very things the United States stood for, and thus injured our image internationally.

    Donald Trump is already giving Russian President Vladimir Putin everything he ever dreamed of, and so much quicker than your average puppet could have done. Russia is laughing at the United States now, mocking its self destruction of the very values that made it stand in relief against an authoritarian dictatorship like Putin’s.

    At destroying America, Donald Trump is the bigly best.

    “Kremlin-controlled news outlets used to root for Donald Trump’s election. Now they’re reveling in the chaos and division of his early presidency,” Michael Crowley of Politico reported Tuesday.

    Politico ran through just a few of the headlines:

    “Immigrants See American Dream Fade in Wake of Surge in Hate Crimes,” Sputnik News, another English language outlet bankrolled by the Kremlin, reported the same day.

    “America is in the grips of hatred,” the Russian television commentator Dmitry Kiselyov told viewers of the Rossiya 1 network on Sunday night. The popular host, appointed directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggested the political discord could lead to violence in gun-friendly America — “a dangerous combination with free-flowing firearms,” he said.

    “The original Russian state-controlled media fixation on Trump was that he was this destroying angel who would damage the established monopoly of two leading US political parties and lead a crusade against ‘bankrupt’ American elites,” Andrew Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment where he oversees research in Washington and Moscow on Russia, told Politico.

    “… who would damage the established monopoly of two leading US political parties and lead a crusade against ‘bankrupt’ American elites” — Do those words sound familiar? Because it wasn’t just Trump fans who spouted them. This came from the far left and the far right and it was embraced by libertarians.

    This entire narrative was deliberately planted and targeted toward young Americans, who ate it up for good reason. Yes, we have a problem in our political system. That problem is that Republicans have enabled corrupt corporate money to secretly influence legislation for their benefit, to the harm of the people.

    It’s just that the solution to that was not to turn our backs on Hillary Clinton, ironically the only person in the general election who directly took on Citizens United and the NRA, in other words, the political influence of the dark money from elites.

    But our country fell for the bait and elected the destroyer of American values out of rage over what they had been led to believe Hillary Clinton stood for. I warned about this during the election.

    It was so easy to manipulate voters into hating Hillary Clinton. Perhaps that is partly on her as pundits keep insisting, but I can’t help but add in the variables of the entities she took on directly, all of the big, big players in dark money and Putin himself – he knew Clinton was no easy pushover; That is, the entities that fooled Americans into voting against their own self interest.

    Perhaps Americans need someone with the charm of Obama to see through the distorting lens of dark money. If so, that is a lazy weakness of which the Kremlin took easy advantage.

    As I keep repeating,

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/07/moscow-mocking-america-freedom-destroyer-donald-trump-ruins-usa.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:28 AM

      " President Barack Obama has said repeatedly – even knowing all of this – that he has faith in our democracy. Our democracy is fueled by the people. Speak up, speak out, be seen, be heard.

      Yes, we can Yes, we did. Don’t forget it."
      RESIST!

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:52 AM

    Republican Obamacare Replacement Falls Apart Less Than 24 Hours After Being Unveiled

    Opposition from conservative groups to the House Republican Obamacare replacement bill is loud and fierce, while in the Senate a top Republican is warning that the replacement bill does not have enough votes to pass. The bill is looking nearly dead less than 24 hours after being unveiled.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/07/republican-obamacare-replacement-falls-24-hours-unveiled.html

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/07/paul-krugman-lays-waste-gops-half-assed-obamacare-replacement.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:52 AM

    Wouldn't it be fitting if two of the people the right hates the most - Rachel Maddow and Barack Obama - were the very people to ultimately play the biggest role in the downfall of the Trump administration?

    PLEASE let it be soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:44 AM

      Trump is cash cow shitting gold bricks for Moneybags Maddow, the last thing she really wants is his downfall. Do you folks still not get how this works?

      Delete
  14. Anonymous10:59 AM

    A Virginia man is running for House of Delegates after spending 16 months in jail for threatening to kill then-President Barack Obama in 2009.

    Nathan Daniel Larson told WUSA that he is running for Virginia’s 31st House District. Election officials confirmed that Larson had collected the required number of signatures to appear on the ballot.

    In 2009, Larson sent Secret Service an email saying he wanted to kill President Obama. As a result of being convicted of a felony, Larson lost his voting rights, which Virginia lists as a requirement for running for office. But his rights were restored by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) after he was released from prison.

    Larson, however, believes that women should not have the right to vote, and he is running on a platform of suppressing the rights of women. He also believes that fathers should be able to marry their daughters.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/man-who-pled-guilty-to-obama-death-threats-runs-for-virginia-seat-and-wants-to-ban-women-voters/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:27 PM

      I'd normally just laugh at this guy's platform, but now? He is just stupid enough to get elected by even stupider voters.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:23 PM

      I grew up in that inbred backwater called Virginia, and I tell ya, even the Northern part that has only 50% inbreds can't make up for the rest of that crazy hillbilly kingdom.

      The South, any of it and all of it, hey, why don't you all just secede again and improve the demographics of the country? Huh, ya'll hear me?

      Delete
  15. Anonymous11:02 AM

    GOP lawmaker who lectured Obamacare recipients on iPhones uses donors’ cash to pay campaign phone bills

    ...According to the Federal Election Commission, Chaffetz’s political action committee (PAC) uses donors’ money to pay for its phone bills. The 2014 document, which Intercept reporter Lee Fang shared on Twitter, shows that Chaffetz’s “rich donors” paid multiple Verizon Wireless bills between May and July of 2014, totaling nearly $1,000. Chaffetz’s campaign donations came from corporations, including Pfizer, Inc. and Goldman Sachs.

    Fang also noted that Chaffetz spent $738 in campaign dollars at the Apple Store, according to a Friends of Jason Chaffetz PAC receipts and disbursements report published by the Federal Election Commission.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/busted-gop-lawmaker-who-lectured-obamacare-recipients-on-iphones-lets-donors-pay-his-phone-bill/


    Jason Chaffetz: Poor People Shouldn’t Buy iPhones If They Need Money For Health Care
    The chairman of the House Oversight Committee says millions of Americans who might lose health insurance need to “make a choice.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jason-chaffetz-iphone-health-care_us_58bea6aae4b09ab537d6a395?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:09 AM

    Trump & White House Floored By Plagiarizing Revelation – WaPost Caught Them

    http://www.bipartisanreport.com/2017/03/07/trump-white-house-floored-by-plagiarizing-revelation-wapost-caught-them/

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/03/06/the-white-house-was-on-the-same-page-as-exxonmobil-monday-literally/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Trump Administration sounds a movie script: The Gang That Couldn't' Shoot Straight" or the plot one of Donald E. Westlake's very funny crime novels that feature his "Dortmunder Gang" dummies.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:12 AM

    President Trump’s University Lawsuit Takes A Turn For The Worse (DETAILS)

    Oooooh, Donald Trump is about to have a very bad Tuesday morning.

    ...At least one member of this class action lawsuit is rejecting the settlement offer tabled by the defendant, Mr. Donald J. Trump, and the documents articulating this position have been shared online.

    According to Ben Meisalas, a prominent attorney who reviewed the objection, and litigates federal class action cases, the settlement should be rejected across the board. In a statement, he asserted that:

    ‘These people weren’t even involved in the negotiations, which were done by class attorney and likely the class representative. Having a non-opt out clause in the agreement reeks of collusion and reflects a clear goal of protecting president trump at the expense of class members. They should not forfeit their fundamental right to a trial. A fraud is a fraud whether you are president or pauper, and victims deserve their day in court.’

    This does mean that Donald Trump is likely to have to sit in front of a judge again, now as more than a Republican candidate, but as the sitting President of the United States. He has Kellyanne Conway’s husband to thank for this, as he won the right to take a sitting president to court, which he sought over a feud with Bill Clinton.

    http://www.bipartisanreport.com/2017/03/07/president-trumps-university-lawsuit-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse-details/

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous11:14 AM

    "There are a lot of loose threads but it appears that Rachel is really starting to tie things together."

    In six months when Maddow is getting you all slobbered up and hooked on some new conspiracy, and nothing ever became of all this, will you recognize all she did with these loose threads was string you along?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:24 PM

      @11:14 AM Keep drinknig the orange koolaid, trumpster/fraud/comrade.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:11 PM

      Ha, okaaaaay 12:25.

      I'll be sure to come back here in 6 months and remind you how all Maddow's big break stories amounted to nothing more than red meat for feeding her bottom line.

      Who is the koolaid drinker lol?

      Delete
  19. Anonymous11:17 AM

    MARINE POWER>
    http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2017/03/06/the_marines_secret_trove_of_nonconsensual_nude_photos_is_about_power_not.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous11:33 AM

    OT?
    http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/07/518986612/author-says-hitler-was-blitzed-on-cocaine-and-opiates-during-the-war?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170307

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous11:39 AM

    Donald Trump's hotel in Azerbaijan linked with corruption, Iran's Revolutionary Guard

    http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-azerbaijan-hotel-linked-with-corruption-iran-2017-3

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous12:02 PM

    CIA provides binders full of classified evidence on Donald Trump and Russia to Senate Intel Committee

    Trump-Russia investigation takes serious turn

    Even as various other committees in the House and Senate continue to play evolving and fuzzy roles in investigating Donald Trump’s Russia scandal, it’s been clear for some time that the Senate Intelligence Committee would lead the way in the Congressional investigation. Accordingly, the CIA has begun providing the members of that committee with binders full of classified Trump-Russia evidence today.

    Senate Intel Committee members from both parties have now begun individually traveling to CIA headquarters in Langley to review what one Senator has described as “four large binders full of classified information.” Of course the Senators can’t publicly disclose what that evidence consists of, due to its nature. But it does reveal just how much intel the CIA has been amassing with regard to Donald Trump and Russia in private, even as the political scandal has played out in public — and the classified nature of it means this is serious evidence, not just a paper chase.

    The turning point for the Senate Intelligence Committee appeared to have occurred two weeks ago when it held a secret meeting with FBI Director James Comey in a secure room in the Senate basement. Shortly after that meeting, Republican Senator Susan Collins began taking an aggressive public posture over the Trump-Russia investigation, including calling for the testimony of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and threatening to subpoena Donald Trump’s tax returns. With the support of Collins, the Democrats on the committee gained de facto majority control of the investigation.

    As we reported at the time, Democratic Senator Mark Warner announced that the committee had taken steps to ensure that Donald Trump’s White House couldn’t destroy the relevant Trump-Russia evidence needed for the investigation. And based on today’s news that the CIA has that evidence, it appears that Trump has indeed failed to destroy it.

    https://www.palmerreport.com/politics/cia-provides-binders-full-of-classified-evidence-on-donald-trump-and-russia-to-senate-intel-committee/1816/

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous1:37 PM

    Dan Rather lost his job:
    "It’s fair to wonder: Did Bannon push Pollak and Breitbart to run the story — much as the Bush White House and Pentagon fed Judith Miller at The New York Times false accounts of Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction,” then cited her reporting as proof that they were right?"

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/this-past-weekends-craziness-tells-us-more-than-we-care-to-know-about-the-state-of-the-presidential-mind/

    ReplyDelete

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