A top ethics watchdog said Wednesday it is suing the Justice Department for all communications concerning the DOJ's decision to share with the press text messages exchanged between two FBI employees, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, during the 2016 election.
Many of the texts were overtly critical of President Donald Trump, and Strzok and Page mocked him at various points throughout the campaign, calling him an "idiot."
Strzok and Page also disparaged other political leaders, like the Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and former Attorney General Eric Holder. The texts concerning Trump, however, were quickly weaponized by the most vehement critics of special counsel Robert Mueller following the DOJ's decision to release them to Congress and the press. That release came just one day before Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified before the House Judiciary Committee on December 13.
The department has failed to answer a significant lingering question stemming from that release: how it chose which texts, of the more than 10,000 the department obtained over the summer, to unveil publicly. Nor has it released additional messages that could provide context to the ones that were shared with lawmakers and reporters. DOJ has also not disclosed who authorized the release.
The lawsuit, filed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the " DOJ’s senior leadership offices for all communications concerning the decision" to give the texts to a small group of reporters the day before Rosenstein's testimony. CREW filed the expedited request Wednesday after the DOJ failed to respond to their initial inquiry within 20 working days.
Yeah I would like to see these questions answered as well.
Since when do private communications between lovers become the business of the DOJ unless one or more of the participants are under criminal investigation?
Waaay off topic, but I love to out grizzly our Sarah. It's colder and more blizzardly where I live than where you live.
ReplyDeleteLol, same here.
DeleteGlobal warming. Sure. /S
We're having your winter, Alaska. It's 26 degrees but 9 with the wind chill here in the DC area.
Deletehttps://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2018/01/02/baked-alaska-usas-northernmost-state-has-been-unusually-warm/996303001/
Delete"In the context of a changing climate, the Arctic is changing more rapidly than the rest of the planet,"
@7:54
DeleteHere is the same information we have been trying to get through to all the other idiot deniers: There is a HUGE difference between CLIMATE and WEATHER.
Justice Department caves to Trump pressure and reopens investigation into Clinton’s emails
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/justice-department-caves-to-trump-pressure-and-reopens-investigation-into-clintons-emails/
Trump lawyers try to stop publication of Michael Wolff book — and demand apology to president
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/trump-lawyers-try-to-stop-publication-of-michael-wolff-book-and-demand-apology-to-president/
http://www.politicususa.com/2018/01/04/trumps-lawsuit-threat-stop-publication-book-backfiring.html
Delete"rump’s lawyers were pursuing possible charges including libel in connection with the forthcoming book, ‘Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.’ The letter by Beverly Hills-based attorney Charles J. Harder demanded the publisher, Henry Holt and Co., ‘immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of the book’ or excerpts and summaries of its contents. The lawyers also seek a full copy of the book as part of their investigation.”
"As crisis grows in both Iran and North Korea, it is telling that the petty president has chosen to focus his attention on a book."
"The takeaway message from this fiasco is that Trump is incompetent, he can’t manage the FALLOUT!!"
"You Can’t Make This S--- Up": My Year Inside Trump's Insane White House
ReplyDeletehttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-wolff-my-insane-year-inside-trumps-white-house-1071504
Trump lawyers try to stop publication of Michael Wolff book — and demand apology to president
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/trump-lawyers-try-to-stop-publication-of-michael-wolff-book-and-demand-apology-to-president/
Amid Trumpland meltdown, Fox launches racial ‘Pocahontas’ attack on Warren: ‘She speaks with forked tongue’
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/amid-trumpland-meltdown-fox-launches-racial-pocahontas-attack-on-warren-she-speaks-with-forked-tongue/
Indeed #metoo #imwithher #speakwithforkedtongue. #millionsofwomen
DeleteAmid the firestorm over Michael Wolff's forthcoming book "Fire and Fury," a lawyer for President Trump says legal action against Steve Bannon is "imminent," accusing the former White House aide of breaking a confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement he had signed with the Trump campaign.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.axios.com/axios-am-2522224225.html
GOOD!
DeleteMultiple people told me this morning Trump is infuriated beyond belief at Steve Bannon’s comments about Don Junior. Saying that Trump thinks Bannon is the traitor. They’ve never seen Trump this angry. The sound of their voices? Absolutely terrified. Expect an unhinged response.
Deletehttps://twitter.com/funder/status/948589594253160448
Anonymous7:36 AM
DeleteGOOD!
Good? Good, what?
Too bad for him,another bozo attorney,bannon was a federal employee when he made the comment, not covered by trump non disclosure contract :)
Delete‘Take it to the bank — he said this’: Here’s proof that Bannon’s anti-Trump quotes are real
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/take-it-to-the-bank-he-said-this-heres-proof-that-bannons-anti-trump-quotes-are-real/
Freedom Caucus leaders call for Sessions to step down
ReplyDeletehttps://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/04/jeff-sessions-resign-freedom-caucus-mark-meadows-jim-jordan-324022
damn, they are so scared.
Lordy, There Are Tapes! Michael Wolff Has 'Dozens' Of Recordings
ReplyDelete...Michael Wolff has tapes to back up quotes in his incendiary book — dozens of hours of them.
Among the sources he taped, I'm told, are Bannon and former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh.
So that's going to make it harder for officials to deny embarrassing or revealing quotes attributed to them in "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," out Tuesday.
https://crooksandliars.com/2018/01/lordy-there-are-tapes-michael-wolff-has
"The latest details come from a story Wolff wrote for The Hollywood Reporter, “Everybody was painfully aware of the increasing pace of his repetitions. It used to be inside of 30 minutes he’d repeat, word-for-word and expression-for-expression, the same three stories — now it was within 10 minutes. Indeed, many of his tweets were the product of his repetitions — he just couldn’t stop saying something.”
DeleteWolff claims that Trump was unable to recognize old friends at a New Year’s Eve gathering, “At Mar-a-Lago, just before the new year, a heavily made-up Trump failed to recognize a succession of old friends.”"
“He’s lost a step. They don’t want him doing adversarial TV interviews.”"rump isn’t some political messaging genius on Twitter. He is a deeply troubled man who can’t stop repeating himself because his mind is leaving."
http://www.politicususa.com/2018/01/04/reports-growing-trump-showing-clear-signs-senility.html
Can hardly wait until the tapes are released and they will be eventually. Bet Bannon is proved correct time and time again!
Delete"“Officials’ questions include how much classified information was sent over Clinton’s server; who put that information into an unclassified environment, and how; and which investigators knew about these matters and when. The Sessions ally also said officials have questions about immunity agreements that Clinton aides may have made,” wrote Woodruff.:
ReplyDelete"The new probe of Clinton, Fallon said, is “to give Trump and his allies something to talk about and point to, and something to give Fox News to devote segments to.”"
Where's the source of this quote? Don't post quotes without their source.
Delete8:12 Who made u the blog police?
DeleteThey'll never find anything on Hillary Clinton no matter how they try! Wasting taxpayer money as usual! Vote out Republicans when you have the opportunity!
DeleteBREAKING: A new Michael Wolff article (out just this morning from The Hollywood Reporter) describes—from inside the White House—a president who is no longer mentally competent and who some aides believe could end up being removed under the 25th Amendment:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/948928023327379457
Yet again, our system of justice—whose independence has so long been prized—bends to the will of a madman. If you can't muster concern now for the imminent danger America is in, nothing will roust you. This case was investigated for 18 months, then closed.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/948957473788088321
Inside Trump's two days of fury
...Trump's venting began Tuesday with a 16-tweet onslaught that White House officials largely saw as an attempt by a media-obsessed President to whip up new storylines that center on him. But the fury escalated Wednesday as the first excerpts emerged from a bombshell portrait of Trump's first year in office.
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/03/politics/donald-trump-russia/index.html
Read the replies to this tweet by Maggie Haberman. I really want to know who the "we" is here, because I was contacted by many in major media when I began writing about the Mayflower Hotel—and again when I wrote about the "TIHDC" meeting—precisely because they had *not* done so.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/948938062779895808
OT:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/colorado-republican-vows-to-retaliate-against-sessions-for-legal-pot-crackdown/
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/trump-administration-to-end-obama-era-marijuana-policy-source/
whyO?
White House Bans Staff From Using Personal Mobile Phones at Work
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-04/a-new-ban-at-the-white-house-staff-s-personal-mobile-phones
Panic, anyone?
And for tits for tats liddle unethical sessions attacks the marijuana industry. Probably a direct order from the dotard, the drunk illegal drug using useful idiot. If only to piss off many. Liddle sessions should not be allowed to carry out anything except his brief case until he is through being investigated for treason and obstruction by Mueller.
ReplyDeleteDotard NEVER Drinks alcohol.
Delete$peedFreakViagraJunkie, YES!
Trunp is freaking out about that his secrets are coming out about him. The cat’s been out of the bag for a while that he’s only barely illiterate, but he’s freaking about the revelations that he strips his bed sheets himself every morning. Doesn’t want people to know he soils himself nightly. Lil Donnie is embawassed.
ReplyDeleteWhat? the mercers cut off ties to bannon? So everyone is now regrouping in the shell game.
ReplyDelete"Donnie...Steve here. Just lettin' ya know that the audio tapes will be released 5 minutes after you try to sue me or Wolfie (sipping bourbon)."
ReplyDelete‘THEY SAID THIS DAY WOULD NEVER COME’
ReplyDeletehttps://crooked.com/article/said-day-never-come/
Commander in Thief
ReplyDeleteHow much of Trump’s profiteering is unconstitutional, and how much is just sleazy? A field guide.
...Yet all the while, official Washington has tolerated an entire other class of corrupt and potentially unconstitutional behavior being carried out in plain sight, as Trump uses the presidency to enrich himself and his family. He has installed immediate relatives at the helm of the Trump Organization, continued to accept payments from foreign governments and private interests, and lavishly billed the government for using his own properties—all without guaranteeing that he will prioritize his duties as president over his own bottom line.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/january-february-march-2018/commander-in-thief/
Donald Trump Is Profoundly Ignorant
...He could not really converse, not in the sense of sharing information, or of a balanced back-and-forth conversation. He neither particularly listened to what was said to him nor particularly considered what he said in response. He demanded you pay him attention, then decided you were weak for groveling…
Here, arguably, was the central issue of the Trump presidency, informing every aspect of Trumpian policy and leadership: He didn’t process information in any conventional sense. He didn’t read. He didn’t really even skim. Some believed that for all practical purposes he was no more than semi-literate. He trusted his own expertise — no matter how paltry or irrelevant — more than anyone else’s. He was often confident, but he was just as often paralyzed, less a savant than a figure of sputtering and dangerous insecurities, whose instinctive response was to lash out and behave as if his gut, however confused, was in fact in some clear and forceful way telling him what to do.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/01/04/donald-trump-is-profoundly-ignorant/
Gee? cant wait to hear from dotard and dildo what the state of the union is. When might that happen?
ReplyDeleteDUH! The same time it always comes. That is REQUIRED by the Constitution. If he tries to delay or refuse, action can be taken.
DeletePersonally, I think if he does try to give the State speech, he will ramble and begin to make it about himself - as always.
OT? "Should we assume from this that the White House "controls" this so-called "outside group"?
ReplyDeleteSee 11 CFR 300.2(c). cc:"
"In a tweet on Thursday morning, Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias noted the White House controlling America First Policies could violate part of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reformt Act:"That law states federal office holders and candidates — and their employees and agents — may not “[d]irectly or indirectly establish, finance, maintain, or control” political organizations that do not adhere to federal campaign finance limits ($5,000 per individual, nothing from corporations). Deciding to fire an employee would, at minimum, appear to be indirect control."
"Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, told ThinkProgress in an interview that if the Axios report is correct, it would likely mean the administration is acting illegally.
“If it can be established that President Trump and/or his agents directly or indirectly control the group, then President Trump is in violation of federal campaign finance law,” "
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-may-be-violating-campaign-finance-law-bba42dd047cf/
Yeah, but will Ryan DO anything about it?
DeleteGood. Jeff Sessions could use a good bitch-slapping.
ReplyDeleteHe's just revoked Obama's marijuana policy and is going after the states that have legalized it. That's going to be a another big loser for Trump. The horse left the barn years ago.
Marijuana is used by everyone at all walks of life. Even those whom actually voted republican use marijuana. This move by sessions is about to backfire horribly. 3-2-1
DeleteO Baby its cold outside. And what do little men with big complexes do? They bully as many as possible. How many voters use marijuana in the usa? Billions of dollars are invested in this industry. What does jeff hope to accomplish? And why is this issue important today? Gee? whose idea was this?
ReplyDeleteThis will be a good time to decriminalize the useful plant. From seeds to harvest there are benefits and products. Great time to end the prohibition. Things that make sense.
ReplyDeleteSessions is a whining sniveling p#$$y, that donald must have grabbed a few times. That's the only thing separating those two idiots.
ReplyDelete