During "Meet the Press' interview James Comey dismisses report by House Intelligence Committee and suggests that Trump will lie under oath.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Former FBI Director James Comey on Sunday dismissed the findings of a GOP report claiming there is no evidence President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russians during the 2016 election. He added that, as a former prosecutor, he has “serious doubts” about Trump’s credibility as a potential witness. 

Comey called the recently released report by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee “a political document” during an interview on “Meet The Press.”

“That is not my understanding of what the facts were before I left the FBI and I think the most important piece of work is the one the special counsel's doing now,” Comey added.

Asked whether the committee has served a good investigative purpose overall, Comey said, “not that I can see.” 

The former FBI director also said politicization has “wrecked the committee, and it damaged relationships with the FISA Court, the intelligence communities. It's just a wreck.”

Yeah it's hard to argue with Comey on this.

The House Intelligence Committee with Devin Nunes in charge was NEVER going to find anything problematic about Trump's interactions with Russia.

Comey also weighed in on Trump's seeming inability to tell the truth:

“I have serious doubts about his credibility,” Comey said of Trump, adding that he worries about whether the president would be truthful under oath or not.

“Sometimes people who have serious credibility problems can tell the truth when they realize that the consequences of not telling the truth in an interview or in the grand jury would be dire,” Comey said. “But you'd have to go in with a healthy sense that he might lie to you.”

In other words Trump will almost certainly lie under oath, and that will essentially be his undoing.

Which is something that probably EVERYBODY knows, with the possible exception of Trump himself. 

Hitherto unknown meeting between Michael Flynn and his son with Russian Ambassador revealed in House Intelligence Committee report.

Courtesy of TPM: 

The House Intelligence Committee’s report from its Russia investigation published on Friday revealed another meeting former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had with the Russian ambassador before he joined the Trump campaign. 

Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn, Jr., met with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at his Washington, D.C. residence on December 2, 2015, according to emails reviewed by the House Intelligence Committee. Flynn’s son described the meeting as “very productive” in an email to the Russian embassy, according to the committee’s report. According to the report, “emails indicate that the meeting was arranged at the request of General Flynn or his son.” Neither Flynn sat with the committee for an interview, leaving congressional investigators with few details about the rendezvous. 

The meeting with Kislyak took place about a week before Flynn traveled to Moscow to speak at the Kremlin RT news organization’s annual gala. Flynn sat next to Vladimir Putin at the dinner and was paid by RT to attend the event. 

Flynn’s December 2015 meeting with Kislyak also came after he met with President Donald Trump for the first time, but Flynn did not formally join the campaign until 2016.

So between the time that Flynn met with Donald Trump for the first time, and this event took place...

...Flynn also met with this guy?

And that doesn't seem like collusion to the House Republicans?

Interesting.

Flynn's son certainly was quick in his attempt to play it down.

The #fakenews media is a joke.....

friggin @TMZ 2.0 pic.twitter.com/L9cvfxdnKr

— 🇺🇸MFLYNNJR🇺🇸 (@mflynnJR) April 27, 2018

You know I am not sure if these House Republicans could recognize collusion if it were delivered to them under their tree on Christmas morning.

The House Intelligence Committee led by Devin Nunes released the report on their Russia "investigation" yesterday, and guess what? No collusion!

Courtesy of CNN: 

The House Intelligence Committee on Friday released a redacted version of the Republican report on the committee's year-long Russia investigation, in which GOP members say they found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and disputed the intelligence community's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to help elect Donald Trump. 

The committee released the report with redactions from the intelligence community, along with a redacted Democratic dissent. saying collusion exists and that there were key aspects of the probe Republicans failed to investigate. 

The report's release marks the conclusion of a yearlong committee investigation that devolved into a partisan brawl between Democrats and Republicans, fighting over the decision by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes to step aside from the probe, the subpoenas that were and were not issued and dueling memos over a surveillance warrant for a former Trump campaign adviser.

The committee ended its investigation into Russia's 2016 election meddling last month, concluding they found no evidence that Trump's team had colluded with Russians. 

"We found no evidence of collusion, and so we found perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings," (Rep. Mike) Conaway said when they submitted their report for declassification.

Of course Trump was also quick to jump on this. 

Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. “No evidence” that the Trump Campaign “colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.” Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2018

However anybody who actually thought this Devin Nunes led investigation was interested in getting to the truth must have their head shoved so far up their ass that they can watch their food digest.

And as the Democrats on that committee point out, the investigation was nowhere near complete.

Courtesy of WaPo:  

The GOP report does address that Trump Tower meeting, allowing that it showed “poor judgment” on the part of the Trump campaign. As we learned from Trump Jr.’s emails, those top Trump campaign officials went to the meeting in the full expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton, supplied by the Russian government. But the GOP report brushes this off, concluding there was “no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government.”

But the Democratic response fills in some extremely important context — and it may involve the president himself, though we cannot know one way or the other right now. 

According to the Democratic response, right after Trump Jr. set up the specifics of the meeting, he had two calls with a number in Russia belonging to Emin Agalarov. Between those two calls, the Democratic response recounts, Trump Jr. received a third call from a blocked number. Who might it have been? 

Democrats wanted to find out, but Republicans blocked it from happening, according to the Democrats’ response. 

“We sought to determine whether that number belonged to the president, because we also ascertained that then-candidate Trump used a blocked number,” Schiff said during our interview. “That would tell us whether Don Jr. sought his father’s permission to take the meeting, and [whether] that was the purpose of that call.” 

Schiff added that Democrats asked Republicans to subpoena phone records to determine whose number it was, but Republicans “refused,” Schiff said. “They didn’t want to know whether he had informed his father and sought his permission to take that meeting with the Russians.”

Okay exactly WHY would the Republicans stop the Democrats from accessing those phone records unless they already knew to whom the blocked number belonged?

But do you know who probably already has that information?

Robert Mueller that's who.

This whole House Intelligence Committee "investigation" was nothing but a distraction to keep the public from focusing on the real investigation which is ACTUALLY looking for the truth.

And that truth is coming, whether Donald Trump and Devin Nunes want it to or not.

Firing a Catholic priest, having teenagers arrested for exercising their 1st Amendment rights, Paul Ryan just doesn't give a f*ck anymore.

I am blowing this Popsicle stand, so fuck all of you!

Courtesy of the NYT: 

The chaplain of the House said on Thursday that he was blindsided when Speaker Paul D. Ryan asked him to resign two weeks ago, a request that he complied with but was never given a reason for. 

The sudden resignation of the chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, shocked members of both parties. He had served in the role since he was nominated in 2011 by Speaker John A. Boehner, a fellow Catholic. In an interview, Father Conroy was categorical: His departure was not voluntary. 

“I was asked to resign, that is clear,” Father Conroy said. As for why, he added, “that is unclear.” 

“I certainly wasn’t given anything in writing,” he said. “Catholic members on both sides are furious.” 

Father Conroy said he received the news from Mr. Ryan’s chief of staff. “The speaker would like your resignation,” Father Conroy recalled being told. He complied.

Father Conroy does have a theory about why he was fired:  

Though Father Conroy said he did not know whether politics were behind his departure, he pointed to a prayer he had given on the House floor in November, when Congress was debating tax overhaul legislation. 

“May all members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to achieve great success, while others continue to struggle,” he prayed. “May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.”

Conroy says that he was chastised after that prayer for getting "too political," and not long after that he was out.

However Paul Ryan says "Nuh uh. that's not why I did it."

Courtesy of Politico:  

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) tried to quell the controversy Friday morning by addressing his decision to fire Father Patrick Conroy during a private GOP conference meeting. Ryan said Conroy's ouster wasn’t politically motivated, as some have speculated. He said it came after complaints from multiple members about how the Jesuit priest wasn’t meeting their “pastoral needs,” as several Republican lawmakers exiting the meeting put it.

Oh yeah, how many priests do we know that were fired for not providing enough Jesus juice to the flock?

(Actually this is the first time in history that a priest has EVER been given the old heave ho by the Congress.)

But Ryan's scorched earth policy did not end there.

Naomi is in high school, she just got arrested while peacefully protesting outside of Paul Ryan's office. Naomi has a message for @SpeakerRyan. Please retweet this and tweet out the link to make sure he gets it.@_naomi_abigail_ #DworkinReport #NeverAgainhttps://t.co/gWXJmCndr4

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) April 27, 2018

Apparently since Ryan has no plans to run for reelection he is not even going to pretend that he is not a festering pustule on the face of humanity.

I am one of those who has known that Paul Ryan is a hateful little prick since he first came on the scene.

Now with one foot out the door he no longer seems interested in hiding that fact.

This almost got lost in all of the recent news lately, but yet another Republican is jumping ship.

After discussions with my family & careful reflection, I have decided to leave Congress in the coming weeks. Serving the people of #PA15 has been a tremendous responsibility & the privilege of a lifetime. pic.twitter.com/p8mik6s8ix

— Rep. Charlie Dent (@RepCharlieDent) April 17, 2018

Charlie Dent was actually one of the least odious Republicans, I think they called him a moderate or something like that.

Which I think in conservative circles means he was not one who masturbated with his gun while staring at a picture of Ronald Reagan. 

However he was a Republican so he has gotta go.

And now there is one more opportunity for Dems to pick up yet another House seat.

Looking good for 2018 my friends. 

Anonymous Republican Congressman goes on angry rant against Donald Trump.

This was apparently a conversation that Red State's Erick Erickson had with a GOP politician still serving in the Congress, but completely fed up with his party's president.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

“If we’re going to lose because of him, we might as well impeach the motherf**ker,” the unnamed Republican Congressman we’ll call “Rep. X,” supposedly said to Erickson. 

Erickson says Rep. X continued his rant, saying, “dammit he’s taking us all down with him. We are well and truly f**ked in November. Kevin [McCarthy] is already circling like a green fly circling sh*t trying to take Paul’s [Ryan] job because nobody thinks he’s sticking around for Nancy [Pelosi]. She’s going to f**k up the cafeteria again too. [Lord’s name in vain], at least I’ll probably lose too and won’t have to put up with that sh*t.”

“It’s like Forrest Gump won the presidency, but an evil, really f*cking stupid Forrest Gump. He can’t help himself. He’s just a f**king idiot who thinks he’s winning when people are b*tching about him. He really does see the world as ratings and attention. I hate Forrest Gump.” 

The House Judiciary Committee “just might pull the trigger if the President fires Mueller,” Rep. X supposedly said. “The sh*t will hit the fan if that happens and I’d vote to impeach him myself. Most of us would, I think. Hell, all the Democrats would and you only need a majority in the House. If we’re going to lose because of him, we might as well impeach the motherf**ker. Take him out with us and let Mike [Pence] take over. At least then we could sleep well at night.” 

Rep. X calls Vice President Pence “competent.” 

“I say a lot of shit on TV defending him, even over this,” Rep. X tells Erickson. Erickson describes the Congressman as someone who defends Trump on Fox News and in public but obviously has a different personal opinion. The media and Democrats on Capitol Hill often say many Republican lawmakers oppose Trump in private, but won’t in public. (There are several words for that.) 

“But honestly, I wish the motherf*cker would just go away. We’re going to lose the House, lose the Senate, and lose a bunch of states because of him. All his supporters will blame us for what we have or have not done, but he hasn’t led. He wakes up in the morning, sh*ts all over Twitter, sh*ts all over us, sh*ts all over his staff, then hits golf balls. F*ck him. Of course, I can’t say that in public or I’d get run out of town.”

I believe this could be almost ANY current GOP member of Congress.

In fact I think you would be hard pressed to find any Republican politician who would support Trump off the record.

I don't typically post an entire article from another website as it is bad form.

However I did not know which parts to leave out of this one, and the entire thing is just too awesome not to share.

I could not bring myself to link directly to RedState as I despise them, and think Erickson is a cockroach.

However I would really appreciate it if you would give Raw Story a visit, and perhaps even click on an ad or two.

They do good work over there and deserve the clicks.

Devin Nunes threatens to "impeach" the head of the FBI and Rod Rosenstein, while Donald Trump just wants to fire everybody.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Tuesday that he will seek to "impeach" FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if they decline to hand over the document used to launch the FBI's probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. 

"I can tell you that we're not going to just hold in contempt, we will have a plan to hold in contempt and impeach," Nunes said on Fox News's "The Ingraham Angle." 

Asked host Laura Ingraham if he was serious about impeaching Wray, Nunes replied: "Absolutely."

Of course as we know Nunes is essentially Trump's lap dog, and he is desperate to earn his Scoobie snack from his master.

However Trump may not even bother to go through that process as he is still talking about firing Rosenstein on his own: 

President Donald Trump is considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, multiple people familiar with the discussions tell CNN, a move that has gained urgency following the raid of the office of the President's personal lawyer. 

Such an action could potentially further Trump's goal of trying to put greater limits on special counsel Robert Mueller. 

This is one of several options -- including going so far as to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- Trump is weighing in the aftermath of the FBI's decision Monday to raid the office of Michael Cohen, the President's personal lawyer and longtime confidant. Officials say if Trump acts, Rosenstein is his most likely target, but it's unclear whether even such a dramatic firing like this would be enough to satisfy the President.

In other news Mitch McConnell refused to allow a vote to protect Robert Mueller and his investigation:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he doesn't think the Senate needs to pass legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller, arguing President Trump won't fire him. 

"I haven't seen a clear indication yet that we needed to pass something to keep him from being removed because I don't think that's going to happen, and that remains my view," McConnell told reporters. The GOP leader, asked what the Senate would do if Trump fired the special counsel, declined to speculate. 

"It's still my view that Mueller should be allowed to finish his job. I think that's the view of most people in Congress," he said. 

There is NO way that McConnell actually believes that Trump is not capable of trying to fire Mueller, or of firing Rosenstein and forcing his successor to fire Mueller.

Especially since he actually had to be talked down from doing so by his lawyers back in December.

Jesus what a shit show!

Paul Ryan is reportedly tapping out.

Courtesy of CNN: 

House Speaker Paul Ryan is not seeking re-election and will retire from Congress after this year, his office announced Wednesday. 

"This morning Speaker Ryan shared with his colleagues that this will be his last year as a member of the House," Ryan aide Brendan Buck said in a statement. "He will serve out his full term, run through the tape, and then retire in January. After nearly twenty years in the House, the speaker is proud of all that has been accomplished and is ready to devote more of his time to being a husband and a father." 

According to two sources with direct knowledge, in calls this morning with his leadership team, Ryan made clear much of this decision was about spending time with his family, but also noted that he planned to leave after this Congress and didn't think it was fair to his district or the GOP conference to run for re-election only to leave right after. 

A source familiar told CNN that Ryan called House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy about his retirement before the news broke. 

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, has been in Congress since 1999 and became House speaker in 2015.

This...is...huge...news.

Ryan did not want to be Speaker in the first place, but he clearly enjoyed being in politics and using his position to screw over poor people at every opportunity.

If he is throwing in the towel it is likely because he realizes that the Democrats will almost certainly be the majority in Congress after the midterms, and that his days as Speaker are over anyhow.

He might also fear the "Iron Stache," and realize that he is going to be humiliated in this next election cycle and wants to get out while the getting is good.

Can you say "Blue Wave?"

Per Trump's request Jeff Sessions speeds up investigation into Hilary Clinton's e-mails. Can you say "distraction?"

Courtesy of Newsweek:  

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has answered President Donald Trump’s demands for America’s top law enforcement agency to speed up the delivery to Congress of more than a million documents about an FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server. 

The Department of Justice and the FBI asked Chicago prosecutor John Lausch to oversee the redaction and production of documents over the weekend. Many of these concern the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.

This March, the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena for 1.2 million documents connected to the investigation and other matters—including potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the investigation of the Trump campaign and the firing of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. The committee’s chairman, Republican Representative Robert Goodlatte of Virginia, said last month that just a few thousand documents have been delivered following his original requests last year. The subpoena is part of a joint investigation with the House Oversight Committee.

Trump took to Twitter (of course) to bitch about how long this process was taking.

What does the Department of Justice and FBI have to hide? Why aren’t they giving the strongly requested documents (unredacted) to the HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE? Stalling, but for what reason? Not looking good!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2018

Hey as far as I am concerned fucking go for it!

How many times have they investigated Hillary now?

And there is NEVER anything revealed which would constitute criminal or unethical behaviors.

My assumption is that either Donald Trump is too deep inside the Right Wing bubble to see how transparent all of this looks to most Americans, or he is so desperate for something he can use to distract attention that he just doesn't care anymore.

NONE of this is going to slow Robert Mueller down by the way, NOR convince the media not to report on the things he uncovers during that investigation.

Trump is pissing into the wind here, and it is splashing back all over him.

Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold abruptly resigns amid sexual harassment allegations.

Courtesy of CNBC: 

Rep. Blake Farenthold resigned abruptly Friday, months after sexual harassment allegations against the Texas Republican surfaced. 

Farenthold, who has represented Texas' 27th District since 2011, said in December he would not seek re-election this year. The 56-year-old becomes only the latest member of Congress to resign in recent months following sexual misconduct allegations. 

"While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it's time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve," Farenthold said in a statement Friday. 

A 2014 harassment lawsuit brought by a former staff member against Farenthold was settled using $84,000 in taxpayer money. The congressman's former communications director, Lauren Greene, accused him of making sexually inappropriate comments. Other former aides have spoken to media outlets about a toxic work environment.

Pajama boy is out?

Aww. what a shame. 

Personally I have no idea how he lasted as long as he did.

I mean the guy's like a poster boy for inappropriate sexual behavior.

Some of the allegations about the conduct in his office, and among his staff, are quite shocking.

Looks like we can chalk up another win for the #MeToo movement, and the Blue Wave.

Devin Nunes continues in his attempts to obstruct the Russia investigations.

Courtesy of TPM:

In his latest round of anti-FBI shenanigans, House Intel Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) is threatening legal action against the Justice Department for refusing to show him unredacted versions of materials documenting the launch of the FBI’s Russia probe. 

In an April 4 letter sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (who’s overseeing the investigation because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself) and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Nunes accuses the Justice Department of “arbitrary resistance to legitimate oversight.”‘ 

“Be advised that failure to comply in a satisfactory manner will result in the Committee pursuing all appropriate legal remedies, including seeking civil enforcement of the August 24 subpoenas in federal district court,” Nunes’ letter said.

Nunes is seeking an unredacted version of a document known as an electronic communication “related to the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign.” The document falls under subpoenas issued by the committee in August, Nunes said, and his committee has only been able to view “heavily redacted” versions of the electronic communication.

I actually do not blame the FBI for keeping Nunes away from sensitive data.

The guy is clearly focused on finding information that he can use to obstruct the Mueller investigation and has no desire to perform the duties for which he was elected.

Fortunately for everybody concerned it looks quite likely that his days in office may be numbered.

Devin Nunes' challengers are using his obstruction of Russian investigations against him in their campaigns.

Courtesy of USA Today:  

Rep. Devin Nunes' handling of the Russia investigation as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has become a major campaign issue as he seeks a ninth term in Congress. 

Both the California Republican and his Democratic challenger, Fresno County Deputy District Attorney Andrew Janz, are using Nunes' high-profile role in the bitterly partisan Russia inquiry to appeal for campaign cash throughout the nation.

 Janz said he has raised more than $1 million in the first quarter of 2018 in part because donors were upset by the now famous "Nunes memo" — which accused the FBI and Department of Justice of abusing their surveillance power to target a Trump campaign aide with ties to Russia. 

Democrats have denounced the memo as a blatant attempt by President Trump and House Republicans to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin and possible obstruction of justice by the president. 

"Traditionally, the prosecution of crimes has been a non-partisan activity, so I'm really disappointed to see my opponent and the Trump White House attacking federal law enforcement agencies and officials," said Janz, who has worked with FBI agents as a prosecutor. "It really undermines our criminal justice system, which is a cornerstone of our democracy."

That's very smart. I see Nunes' obstructionism as his main weakness. 

And I am going to be watching this race very closely because Devin Nunes is at the top of my list of motherfuckers that gots to go.

Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy just admitted that "Congress has proven itself incapable of conducting serious investigations.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, who chaired the House Select Committee on Benghazi, on @FaceTheNation: "Congress has proven itself incapable of conducting serious investigations." pic.twitter.com/Jw5odiMPkV

— Axios (@axios) April 1, 2018

I was thinking this might have been an April Fool's joke, but it appears he was serious.

I really do not like agreeing with Trey Gowdy on ANYTHING, but he is not wrong here.

Congress has wasted millions and millions of taxpayer dollars investigating Right Wing conspiracies, like the supposed IRS anti-conservative practices, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, and of course Hillary's e-mails.

None of those panned out, and in most cases were determined to be ridiculous by most people before the investigation was even launched.

So yes, Congress should simply get out of the investigation game and turn their attention to something they do well.

Just as soon as we determine what that might be.

Dammit! I did not even get a chance to make fun of her yet.

By my count, that’s 2 races.
https://t.co/Vy6nYW6QxV

— amber ruffin (@ambermruffin) March 30, 2018

Courtesy of CNN:

"Clueless" star and former Fox News commentator Stacey Dash is withdrawing her congressional bid, a representative for the actress confirmed to CNN Friday. 

"After much prayer, introspection and discussions with my family, I am withdrawing my candidacy for California's 44th Congressional District," Dash said in an email statement to CNN. 

The news comes one month after the actress and outspoken Republican filed paperwork to run in California's 44th district, which is currently represented by Democrat Nanette Barragán. 

Her campaign slogan was "Dash to D.C."

Look. There is a lot going on right no, so I would appreciate it if these conservatives morons trying to run for office during what will likely be one of the largest progressive turnovers in American history, would stay in the race long enough for me to get around to mocking them BEFORE they come to their senses and run back to the safety of their Right Wing bubble.

I mean I am only one man here.

And there is SO MUCH to mock right now.

Devin Nunes' Democratic challenger has raised more than one million dollars in the first quarter.

Courtesy of CNN: 

A Democratic candidate challenging House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes took in more than $1 million in the first quarter of 2018, a sign of Democrats' enthusiasm to oust the California congressman who has allied himself closely with President Donald Trump. 

Andrew Janz, the Deputy District Attorney in Fresno County, is still considered a long shot in his bid to unseat Nunes. CNN currently rates the 22nd District as a "safe Republican" seat. But Nunes' role in running interference for Trump on the investigations into Russia's role in the 2016 election has made him a target for Democrats nationwide. 

According to fundraising figures provided to CNN by the campaign, Janz has raised more than $1 million so far in 2018 with just three days left in the first quarter. The campaign received a huge influx in fundraising cash from donors across the country in the wake of Nunes role in releasing a controversial memo detailing concerns Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee had with the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"We feel like he is the one person that is really standing in the way of the (FBI Special Counsel) Robert Mueller investigation," Janz told CNN. "We think people deserve to know what happened to our elections in 2016 and what is happening in 2018. And every day my opponent is out there trying to undermine federal law enforcement, the special prosecutors probe and really working for Trump instead of the American people."

I think that Devin Nunes is toast.

And deservedly so.

He almost single handedly quashed the House Intelligence Commmittee's Russia investigation to protect Putin's White House asset and he deserves to be humiliated in this next election, investigated for obstructionism, and ultimately thrown in jail.

In other words Fuck Devin Nunes!

A day after House Republicans declare that the Russia investigation is over and Trump is exonerated, House Democrats say "Tut tut, not so fast."

Courtesy of CNBC: 

Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said on Tuesday they would keep investigating Russia and the 2016 U.S. election, despite a decision by Republicans on the panel to shut down the probe. 

"We are going to do our best to continue our work. There are individuals who want to cooperate with our committee and share information, and will continue to do so," said representative Adam Schiff, the committee's top Democrat. 

"We will be putting together a report that will set out for the country what evidence we have seen to date," he said.

The Democrats also released a 22-page status report on the investigation, listing lines of inquiry they feel should be pursued and more than 30 witnesses the committee has still not interviewed. 

They included Reince Priebus, a former Trump White House chief of staff, and former White House spokesman Sean Spicer, as well as Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer who participated in a June 2016 meeting with Trump's son Donald Jr. and other close Trump associates. 

Among the concerns in the status report were "credible allegations as to the use of Trump properties to launder money by Russian oligarchs, criminals, and regime cronies." 

It also questioned whether "candidate Trump's financial exposure via Deutsche Bank or other private loans constituted a point of leverage that Russia may have exploited and may still be using?" 

The report said the committee should request related documents and hear testimony from Deutsche Bank, "via subpoena if necessary," to evaluate such allegations.

I am not sure how much the Democrats on his committee can accomplish without support from the Republicans, but let's face it they never really had it to begin with.

However the findings of the Republicans that there was no credible evidence that the Russians had developed a preference for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton did not go down well even with some House Republicans.

Including Trey "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi" Gowdy.

Courtesy of Politico:  

A top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee distanced himself Tuesday from one of the panel's most explosive findings in its Russia investigation — that the FBI, CIA and NSA overplayed their hand when they declared Russia preferred a Donald Trump victory in the 2016 election. 

Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina said that the evidence gathered by the committee clearly showed Russia's disdain for Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton, and was "motivated in whole or in part by a desire to harm her candidacy or undermine her Presidency had she prevailed."

I never really had any faith that this committee would find anything worthwhile anyhow, not with Trump lapdog Devin Nunes undermining the investigation. 

And I am not super stoked about the Senate investigation either. 

No the smart money is on Robert Mueller.

Mueller is laser focused on getting to the truth, and I have every confidence that he will do that very thing.

NBC calls Democrat Conor Lamb the victor in Pennsylvania special election.

We have the Washington numbers and NBC is calling Conor Lamb the apparent winner in PA-18

— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) March 14, 2018

I tried to stay up and watch this whole thing, but then the wine kicked in and I was done.

Kornacki did a great job though, so I thought I would use his tweet in my post about this amazing race.

Five Thirty Eight also backs NBC's announcement that Lamb is the winner here:

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, Lamb leads by 641 votes, or 0.28 percentage points. And he and Democrats have claimed victory. 

The exact margin will likely change,1 but it’s going to be very difficult for Saccone to make up that deficit. The only votes left to be counted are around 200 absentee ballots in Greene County (expected to be announced on Wednesday) as well as a handful of provisional and overseas ballots, which may take days to finalize. There may not even be 641 ballots left to count. 

Nor is a recount likely to change the final result. Although it would be pretty easy for Republicans to request a recount should they want one, recounts typically don’t shift election margins by that much. That’s especially true in Pennsylvania, where most voting is done on electronic touchscreens; a recount would only reveal errors in the small population of paper ballots.

Of course Saccone is not conceding as of yet, and with it this incredibly close I don't really blame him.

However this whole thing is simply amazing, no Democrat should have even had a chance in this race, and the fact that Lamb won (?) should terrify the Republican party moving forward into 2018.

And this might give them a couple of nightmares as well.

Our election night poll in PA-18 found that health care was a defining issue in the race. 52% said it was either the most important issue or very important in their vote, and Conor Lamb won those voters 62-38: https://t.co/1D00GVRY5k

— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) March 14, 2018

Do you feel that blue wave a coming?

Because I certainly do. 

House Intelligence Committee ends it's "investigation" and, surprise surprise, finds no evidence of collusion. Update!

Courtesy of NBC News:  

House Republicans investigating foreign interference in the 2016 election say they have found no evidence that Russians colluded with any members of the Trump campaign and dispute a key finding from the intelligence community that Russia had developed a preference for the Republican nominee during the election. (Holy shit that's a lot of stupid.)


Those are the initial conclusions of a 150-page report from GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee, who are formally bringing the panel’s year-long investigation to an end over the fierce objection of Democrats. 

Lawmakers had been telegraphing that last week’s committee interview with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was likely to be the last of dozens conducted since the committee launched its Russia probe last March.

Yeah you could see this result coming from a mile away.

The Republicans would not be able to see collusion in this case if collusion if it his them right in the face.

This report was apparently written without any input from the Democrats on the committee, and in fact they did not know it had already been written.

In fact there are still witnesses that the Democrats wanted to call. 

Once again the Republicans in Congress prove that they can see no wrong doing unless it concerns a Democrat, and they invent it all by themselves.

And Fox New is already using this to undermine all of the investigations.

Hmmm... This banner on @FoxNews... "CASE CLOSED." pic.twitter.com/WxnzoTyLQ0

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 12, 2018

Nice try assholes.

Update: Well you knew this was coming.

THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018

And typed in all CAPS which reminds us that first and foremost Donald Trump is an online troll. 

Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is apparently behind attempts to sabotage investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Has this ever happened before?

Burr and Warner

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel’s top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer, according to two congressional officials briefed on the matter. 

Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, the committee’s Republican chairman, and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat, were so perturbed by the leak that they demanded a rare meeting with Speaker Paul D. Ryan last month to inform him of their findings. They used the meeting with Mr. Ryan to raise broader concerns about the direction of the House Intelligence Committee under its chairman, Representative Devin Nunes of California, the officials said. 

To the senators, who are overseeing what is effectively the last bipartisan investigation on Capitol Hill into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, the leak was a serious breach of protocol and a partisan attack by one intelligence committee against the other. 

The messages between Mr. Warner and Adam Waldman, a Washington lawyer, show that the senator tried for weeks to arrange a meeting with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who assembled a dossier of salacious claims about connections between Mr. Trump, his associates and Russia. The Senate committee has had difficulty making contact with Mr. Steele, whom it views as a key witness. And Mr. Waldman, who knew Mr. Steele, presented himself as a willing partner.

Those texts, which were sent via a secure messaging application, were then leaked to Fox News who quickly used them in an attempt to discredit Senator Warner.

And they even called in a little help to do so.

Wow! -Senator Mark Warner got caught having extensive contact with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch. Warner did not want a “paper trail” on a “private” meeting (in London) he requested with Steele of fraudulent Dossier fame. All tied into Crooked Hillary.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2018

So to be clear, Devin Nunes revealed private correspondence between a sitting Senator and his source to a national media outlet, and then the president of the United States used that information to publicly attack a fellow Republican and attempt to discredit an investigation into his own wrongdoing.

And all of this happened only weeks after the House Republicans published that erroneous memo claiming that the FBI relied only on the dossier and some media reports in order to get a FISA warrant to put Carter Page under surveillance.

Which of course is also a lie. 

We are so far down the rabbit hole now.

Hope Hicks finally testifies before the House Intelligence Committee. Decides to pull a "Bannon."

Courtesy of WaPo:

Hope Hicks, one of President Trump’s closest aides and advisers, met Tuesday with House investigators probing Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. But she refused to answer any questions about events and conversations that occurred since Trump took office, according to a Republican lawmaker who was there during the proceedings. 

Emerging from the meeting with Hicks, panel member Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) said that “there are some questions that she’s not going to answer,” adding that Hicks was not willing to detail anything from the inauguration forward. 

Her refusal to answer questions about the Trump administration’s tenure suggests lawmakers will have a difficult time learning her side of a key story: the drafting of a misleading statement to explain an un­or­tho­dox meeting at Trump Tower between top Trump campaign members and a Russian lawyer.

According to at least one Democrat on the committee to say "We got Bannoned."

However at least one interesting tidbit was revealed during the testimony:

Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, told House investigators on Tuesday that her work for President Trump, who has a reputation for exaggerations and outright falsehoods, had occasionally required her to tell white lies. 

But after extended consultation with her lawyers, she insisted that she had not lied about matters material to the investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible links to Trump associates, according to three people familiar with her testimony. 

The exchange came during more than eight hours of private testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. Ms. Hicks declined to answer similar questions about other figures from the Trump campaign or the White House. 

One has to wonder if she means "white lies" in the sense that they were harmless in nature, or just that they were okay because white people were telling them.?

Once again while I want as many investigations as possible looking into the Russia issue, I simply do not trust this House committee to actually get to any truth.

In fact I heard that they have already started writing their final report with several witnesses still to see. (Well to be honest it's the Democrats who want to see many more witnesses, as far as the Republicans are concerned Hicks was the last one.)

I am actually more interested in what Hicks might tell Mueller.

And I imagine that Mueller will not allow little miss orange stained thighs to pull any of these shenanigans on him or his investigators.