Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have broken up over Russia.
The committee’s once bipartisan investigation into whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice or his campaign colluded with Russia has hit a partisan wall, with Republicans and Democrats saying they will now conduct their own probes. “We made the decision to go and carry it out ourselves,” Feinstein told Mother Jones on Tuesday. “They can go ahead and do whatever it is they wanted to do.” A Grassley spokesman also said the chairman had decided to proceed with a Republican-only investigation.
Judiciary’s Russia investigation is the latest congressional probe to stall out over GOP efforts to pursue matters Democrats see as gambits to distract or provide cover for the Trump administration. The partisan sparring within the committees looking into various aspects of the Russia scandal has caused concern among Democrats and other observers that Republicans will fail to complete rigorous probes but will still declare their investigations did not find significant collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
While I have virtually NO confidence in Congress's ability, or desire, to get to the truth. I kind of thought that the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees might have a fair shot at it.
After all they were saying all the right things, and Senate does not seem nearly as partisan as the House.
However apparently that faith has been misplaced.
And now we see why having the Robert Mueller investigation working independently is so damn important.
If Trump finds away to sabotage that, then this whole thing will simply disappear forever and we will NEVER learn the truth.
NBC News:
ReplyDeleteYes, the Russia-Trump investigation is real — even when you exclude the Steele dossier
..... But here’s a timeline to remind everyone that the Trump-Russia investigation is real — even outside of what we know about the Steele dossier:
SEE TRUMP / RUSSIAN TIMELINE BELOW
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/yes-russia-trump-investigation-real-n814541
President Again Actively Assisting On-Going Russian Attacks
DeleteTrump just commented on a number of news stories before boarding Marine One to leave the White House. I’ve noted a couple memorable moments below. The really important one is about the Russia scandal and how he now believes he is vindicated in calling the entirety of the matter a hoax.
To review, the President is arguing that the news about the so-called Steele Dossier is now revealed as a hoax and that the Uranium One conspiracy theory floated by John Solomon in The Hill means it was the Democrats who colluded with Russia. The entirety of this is so nonsensical as to not require or merit any real discussion.
...If the President is out there publicly saying it’s not happening, saying it’s a hoax, he is actively and directly assisting the attack. There’s no other way to put it. He is charged by his oath with preserving the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. He pledged to defend against all attacks but he’s actively assisting one. That is just as much the case as it would be if he repeatedly denied an adversary power were moving conventional arms into positions which threatened the United States.
He is actively and directly assisting the attack and the attack is on-going. Why he’s doing that is not really relevant. He’s doing it.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/president-again-actively-assisting-on-going-russian-attacks
“Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.”
ReplyDeletePoliticusUSA:
Trump’s Own College Professor Confirms That He’s Been A Moron For Most Of His Life
Trump’s former college professor is quoted as having called the now President, the dumbest student that he ever had. The professor added that Trump came to Wharton thinking that he already knew everything, which means that even before his mind started to go, Donald Trump was a moron.
In a diary published on Daily Koslate professor William T. Kelley was quoted as saying about Trump:
Professor Kelley told me 100 times over three decades that “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” I remember his emphasis and inflection — it went like this — “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” Dr. Kelley told me this after Trump had become a celebrity but long before he was considered a political figure. Dr. Kelley often referred to Trump’s arrogance when he told of this — that Trump came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything....
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/10/13/trumps-college-professor-confirms-moron-life.html
The thing is if this were Hillary Clinton, a woman, or Barack Obama, a black man, then they would have been tarred and feathered a long time ago. But no, it's a white man. A rich one at that. A connected one at that. Didn't daddy get him out of military a number of times? So it is to be expected that the good old boy's club is very active in trying to protect their number one homeboy. And your' odds of getting out of a crime is high if you have all those things in your favor. And don't forget, the majority of people in America are sheeple. Been trained by the best, McDonalds, Walmart, our educational system, so everyone who thinks Trump is all that were brainwashed long ago by the image projected by his show on tv. No one is attuned to the tactics of propaganda. The good old boys is not about to lose their savior.
ReplyDeleteCongressional Democrats Are Crushing The GOP In 2018 Midterm Fundraising
ReplyDeleteCongressional Democrats are whipping their GOP counterparts in fundraising heading into the 2018 elections, a key sign that a wave election may be building.
In both the Senate and House, Democrats are pulling money hand-over-fist in many of their most important races, according to campaign finance reports recently filed with the Federal Election Commission. Many Republicans are struggling to keep up — including some key incumbents in both chambers.
That trend is causing heartburn for many Republicans, who worry their chances of losing the House are growing due to President Trump’s unpopularity and Republican voters’ frustration with their failure to pass major legislation.
“It’s a serious problem,” former National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) told TPM. “It’s a very rough cycle coming up. Nobody’s had a good off year since 2002 and anybody that thinks the majority is not at risk or that they can’t be beaten is kidding themselves.”
The chances they could lose the Senate too are looking less like an impossibility even though Democrats are defending many more vulnerable seats. Republican senators warn that they better get tax reform done to please their donors and base or face an even bleaker scenario following their failure to repeal Obamacare.
“There is a warning that comes from lack of fundraising success, and it indicates that your agenda or your lack of accomplishment is something people are deciding is a problem as they make a decision about contributing to a campaign,” former National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS) told TPM. “The fact that the fundraising is what it is is certainly not a positive, but it doesn’t mean that it’s ultimately a problem. There’s time to recover from the circumstance of low numbers now.”
Nine of the 10 Democratic senators from states President Trump won raised more than $1 million in the last fundraising quarter, easily outpacing most of their rivals. All 10 have at least $3 million stashed away, and seven of them have more than $5 million cash on hand.
...Democrats aren’t counting their chickens yet — but they admit things seem to be going their way.
“This has been an amazing year. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who raised $2.7 million and has $7.1 million in the bank, told TPM.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/congressional-democrats-crushing-gop-in-fundraising
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we kick the asses of the Republicans in the upcoming elections - 2018 and 2020. Can hardly wait to cast my votes!
DeleteWeird.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/jasonleopold/senate-committee-escalates-russia-probe-digs-into-finances
GeorgiaPeach
Neil DeGrasse Tyson Accused of Raping a Former Student
ReplyDeletehttp://www.patheos.com/blogs/nosacredcows/2017/10/neil-degrasse-tyson-accused-of-rape/
"know that this is the truth. Those who know me well can attest to the fact that I lived with undiagnosed PTSD of [at] least 25 years.
DeleteShe also said Tyson was the reason she didn’t further pursue her dream of reaching the stars and becoming a full-fledged astrophysicist, and accused him of telling students they could pass Astronomy 101 if they gave him a blow job."
"I have absolutely no idea if any of this is true, and neither Amet nor Tyson responded to my requests for comment, but it is a formal accusation and as such it deserves to be investigated."
Patheos is a weird christian blog full of misinformation, just so ya know.
DeleteDon't they host The Friendly Atheist on Patheos?
DeleteBill O’Reilly Harassed my Ex-Girlfriend, Then Asked Her for Dirt Against Other Accusers (Update)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mediaite.com/online/bill-oreilly-harassed-my-ex-girlfriend-then-asked-her-for-dirt-against-other-accusers/
This is interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.wgbh.org/2017/10/25/local-news/juliette-kayyem-it-safe-say-thanksgiving-something-going-drop-mueller
GeorgiaPeach
I feel the same way about “intelligence” committees. WHAT intelligence?
ReplyDeleteWhy aren't House and Senate Republicans actively pursuing the Russian investigation? Because as we found out yesterday, the RNC most probably actively colluded with Wikileaks, the Trump Campaign and Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton and secure Trump as President and their seats in Congress. The RNC and many, many sitting Congressmen are guilty of obstruction of justice and colluding with an enemy. They'll try everything they can to derail this investigation. But I don't think they'll be able to indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteIn the long run it doesn't matter as long as Mueller's investigation goes forward.
ReplyDeleteNow they can get back to investigating the important stuff Hillary's emails and the good old standby Benghazi: )
We already know the truth. Now we're just waiting for Mueller to fill in the details.
ReplyDeleteDon't like using Faux for news, but, worth noting
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/10/26/twitter-bans-ads-from-russian-media-outlets-russia-today-and-sputnik.amp.html
And this
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/10/26/times-up-for-trump-to-implement-new-russia-sanctions/
Another crappy week for DJT. Hoping it gets worse.
GeorgiaPeach
JFK> "The common enemies of America is
ReplyDeleteTyranny, Poverty, Disease, and WAR itself"
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/jfk-assassination-files/release-jfk-assassination-file-delayed-deadline-looms-n814691
"The U.S. government was in danger Thursday of missing the deadline to release a trove of previously classified records from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, adding an unexpected twist to a saga already rife with rumors and conspiracies.
The law says the National Archives must release the 35,000 documents by midnight unless President Donald Trump objects on national security grounds. On Thursday evening, U.S. officials said that some material would be released, and other documents would be withheld to give agencies more time to figure out what they want redacted."
'We seemed to have Erased the HEROS of our generation"
DeleteDon't expect any earth shattering new evidence if it is all released. Anyone who knew anything is either long dead, or old and dying and keeping their lips shut.
DeleteIt was always a nothing-burger, as you like to say. The only way to get Trump out is for Congress to get together and force him out because he's batshit crazy, but that's not going to happen because all of the narcissists in Congress, in both parties, love their jobs too much to rock the boat.
ReplyDeleteTrump is going to be business as usual for at least the next 3.5 years and quite likely until 2021 until a new POTUS in inaugurated.
No reason not to just get on with life and let this shit go. We endured 8 of Bush we can endure 8 of Trump.
DJT will be serving time somewhere. His days of gaming the system are almost at an end.
DeleteThis house of cards is falling fast. Well-deserved frantic desperation is a beautiful thing to behold.
GeorgiaPeach
Many folks are going to be tripping all over themselves and each other to get on the right side of the law.
DeleteTick, tock.
GeorgiaPeach
Frantic desperation?
DeleteWhat frantic desperation?
Haven't seen it....
@3:53 PM
DeleteThen, excuse my French, you're not paying fucking attention to "real" news.
GeorgiaPeach
You probably can not see 3:53PM because of those blinders you conservatives wear to prevent objective reality from getting into your brain
DeleteSorry Georgia. Can you please point us all in the direction where the real news is which displays this frantic desperation? Much obliged, and bless your heart darlin'.
DeleteNunes has been running interference for Drumpf from the congressional side, even though he is not supposed to be involved.
ReplyDeleteGrassley was looking for any excuse to divert his attention from the slimeball in the WH to HRC some more and now they have it.
As 'we lurch along into the actuarial table'...
ReplyDeleteOT: Sens. Cory Booker (NJ), Michael Bennet (CO), and
ReplyDeleteAmy Klobuchar (MN).
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/10/26/democrats-score-win-trumps-voter-fraud-commission-federal-investigation.html
Donald Trump is the GOP and the GOP is Donald Trump
ReplyDeleteDear fellow Americans and especially members of the media: Please stop waiting for more Congressional Republicans to have an “awakening” and denounce President Donald Trump. What you are missing is this simple truth: Trump is the GOP and the GOP is Trump. (At least in today’s political climate.)
If you need any more proof of this just look what has happened in the two days since Republican Senator Jeff Flake stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate and delivered an emotional speech warning that Trump’s conduct was “dangerous to a democracy.” Flake declared: “I rise today to say: Enough.” And then the Arizona Senator laid down a challenge to his fellow Republicans, “Because politics can make us silent when we should speak, and silence can equal complicity.”
Flake later told NBC News that he hoped that this was a “tipping point” and that other Republicans would follow his lead.
So what did we hear from his fellow Republicans in Congress? Well Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss) was on MSNBC’s Meet the Press shortly after Flake’s speech and was asked point blank if Trump’s “character” bothered him. What was his response? Wicker first pushed back against Chuck Todd’s assertion that Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) – who had earlier in the day said Trump was “debasing” our nation with his “constant non-truth telling” and “name calling” – and Flake’s speech had addressed Trump’s “character.”
Then Wicker stunningly went on to say he “didn’t know what the speech today said” referring to Flake’s speech. (Does Wicker not understand English?!)
But then Wicker told us point blank the truth: “I think most of us in the [GOP Senate] conference are very comfortable with the direction that this chief executive of our nation and this head of our Party wants to take us.”
Wicker summed it up perfectly-Trump is the head of the GOP and Congressional Republicans are “very comfortable” with him as their leader. In fact, Oklahoma GOP Senator Jim Inhofe declared on Wednesday that it was good people like Flake who didn’t fully embrace Trump would be leaving Congress: “Maybe we do better by having some of the people who just don’t like him [Trump] leave, and replace them with somebody else.”
The message of Inhofe as well as people like Steve Bannon is simply this: If you aren’t 100 percent on board with all of Trump, then get out. They truly couldn’t be any more blunt in telling us that if you have problems with Trump’s character, his lies, bigotry, etc. you are no longer welcome in the new GOP.
https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/donald-trump-is-the-gop-and-the-gop-is-donald-trump/
Trump campaign lied, paid $5.9M to Russia-tied data firm it says played no "key role"
ReplyDeletehttps://shareblue.com/trump-campaign-lied-paid-5-9m-to-russia-tied-data-firm-it-says-played-no-key-role/