As far as Nunes can tell, none of us have even met with Trump

[PerkingFaintly]

Devin Nunes Gets A Pretty Basic Fact Wrong In Defending His Memo
Nunes suggested that Donald Trump had never met with George Papadopoulos. There's a photo of them sitting at the same table.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/devin-nunes-memo_us_5a788b57e4b01fe513a60603

And we certainly didn't have a national security meeting right here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3150505-The-one-in-which-Trump-orders-his-staff-to-fire-Mueller-and-they-give-him-the-finger?pg=1

www.politico.com/story/2018/02/14/trump-after-dark-somber-day-410799?cid=apn

Public Citizen
@Public_Citizen
BREAKING: The Trump administration just backed down and settled our FOIA lawsuit to obtain the White House visitor logs they were trying to keep secret.

The public will have access to these records in the coming months.

The Trump administration aimed to conceal the names of people visiting key White House agencies to keep the public in the dark about the corporate takeover of our government.

Now we’ll at least have a window into the corporate lobbyists driving Trump administration policy.

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Important revision: WaPo finds that the number of school shootings that have occurred in 2018 is NOT 18. Just 5 school shootings this year have resulted in any physical injury, another 3 appeared to be intentional but didn't hurt anyone.

www.washingtonpost.com/local/no-there-havent-been-18-school-shooting-in-2018-that-number-is-flat-wrong/2018/02/15/65b6cf72-1264-11e8-8ea1-c1d91fcec3fe_story.html?utm_term=.f1110c12f88d

Also a question mark about whether he really was affiliated with the white supremacist group.

www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-dossier/u-s-tries-to-keep-some-russia-probe-details-secret-despite-republican-memo-idUSKCN1FZ2Z1

www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/15/mormons-want-to-save-the-republican-partys-soul-but-is-it-too-late

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/14/trump-russia-investigation-evidence-collusion-obstruction-adam-schiff

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-border-wall-immigration-plan-rejected-senate-dreamers-daca-a8213151.html

(CNN) 'Former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates is finalizing a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller's office, indicating he's poised to cooperate in the investigation, according to sources familiar with the case.

Gates has already spoken to Mueller's team about his case and has been in plea negotiations for about a month. He's had what criminal lawyers call a "Queen for a Day" interview, in which a defendant answers any questions from the prosecutors' team, including about his own case and other potential criminal activity he witnessed.'

amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/02/15/politics/rick-gates-plea-deal-mueller-russia-investigation/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/15/trumps-inaugural-committee-paid-26-m-firm-started-melania-trump-adviser/341053002/

I guess we underestimated how cold it would feel cozie.
To the camp store tomorrow to see what they have in stock.

All good luck then.

A Lewinsky dress? Ugh shudders

Unfortunately, it's probably exactly as grim as what you thought it would be:

Matt Viser
@mviser
Stormy Daniels reportedly has kept the dress she wore during her 2006 night with Trump. And she’s planning on having the dress forensically tested to search for any DNA that proves she isn’t lying about what took place that night.

theblast.com/stormy-daniels-dress-donald-trump-dna/

Really didn't need to read that when I'm about to eat a slice of creamy cake!

Re school shootings.

There have been18 this year incidents in the USA where someone has taken a gun into school and discharged it, but only 8 incidents resulted in injury or death... I’d say that both numbers, 18 and 8 are correct depending on your definition of “school shooting”.

I’m UK based (and as it happens, live about 1/2 hr drive from Dunblane). If anyone walked into my child’s Primary school with a gun and fired it, even if no one was injured, I can assure you it would be national news in the all across the UK. I would certainly count it as a school shooting- maybe the question is, why would it be thought to be a non-incident to many in the US?

People who don’t want gun control are going to minimise it of course- nobody was hurt so it doesn’t count, taking guns into school is just fine as long as no one is killed...

If there have been 18 incidents this year where a gun has been discharged in schools, I wonder how many guns have been found and confiscated in schools without any incident?

Go quickly to your happy place Natsku.

www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/gun-mass-shooting-terrorism/553439/?utm_source=

I think that's fair lettuce

On guns:

The Hill
@thehill
White House refused to release photo of Trump signing bill that weakened gun laws for mentally ill: report hill.cm/GNrmfRB

And

Jim Acosta
@Acosta
Following the president's remarks, I tried to ask Trump why does this keep happening in America and whether he will do anything about guns. He did not respond except to say thank you.

Despite what you heard earlier:

Ben White‏Verified account
@morningmoneyben
Mini-scoop: No, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin does NOT support Congress looking into new gun laws.

www.politico.com/story/2018/02/15/steven-mnuchin-congress-gun-control-414314

And

The Hill
@thehill
NC state GOP lawmaker: Democrats are committing school shootings so they can "take over the country" hill.cm/xLnof2H

This does seem different this time:

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
"In the familiar aftermath of America’s latest mass shooting, something new stood out: This time, the kids who survived the rampage on Wednesday were demanding to know why the adults who run the country had not done more to prevent it."

Also interestingly from last year:

Lois BeckettVerified account
@loisbeckett
Yes, Trump erased an Obama-era rule on mental health and guns.

Experts said it was “fundamentally not a rational policy," that it was “unfair” & “stigmatizing.”

The ACLU, disability advocates, and mental health groups all supported Trump's rollback:

NRA and Republicans find unlikely ally on rollback of gun control rule: science

Donald Trump is set to sign into law a reversal of an Obama policy to bar certain mentally ill people from owning guns. Researchers and civil rights activists agree

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/16/nra-republicans-gun-control-science

Forgot this:

Maggie Haberman‏Verified account
@maggieNYT
The president’s favorite paper

To be clear, this is a massive sea change for the Post after a mass shooting. And this is a Murdoch paper

Assorted white house legal entanglements:

Bernard B. Kerik‏Verified account
@BernardKerik
The @FBI knew about Cruz, they knew about the bomber in NJ/NY, they knew about the husband and wife in San Bernardino, and they knew about the Boston bombers, yet we're wasting resources chasing Russian collusion and harassing @GenFlynn. Time for @jeffsessions to do something!

Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
This is the latest in a series of right-wing attacks on the FBI, with a new twist: blaming Russia probe for counter-terror misses.

And

Polly Sigh
@dcpoll
Recall: Rachel Brand's husband, Jonathan Cohn, is an attorney at Sidley Austin, the firm Rick Gates just hired to represent him in the Mueller indictment and negotiate his plea deal. Still wonder why she stepped down from the DOJ?
#Maddow

And

Natasha Bertrand
@NatashaBertrand
The House Intel committee's memos were sent to the White House to declassify, in effect putting Trump, who is a subject of the ongoing investigation, in charge of evidence that could potentially be used against him. My latest:

The President's Power to Hide Secret Details About the Russia Investigation

Executive power means Donald Trump can classify or declassify memos that may implicate him.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/the-conflict-of-interest-in-plain-sight/553436/

And

Zoe Tillman
@ZoeTillman
New: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court just released letters to Nunes and Goodlatte re: their requests for FISC records. Judge said the requests are a first for the court, and it's considering them. To Nunes: www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/Presiding%20Judge%20Rosemary%20M%20Collyer%20response%20to%20Chairman%20Nunes%20180215_0.pdf

To Goodlatte: www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/Presiding%20Judge%20Rosemary%20M%20Collyer%20response%20to%20Chairman%20Goodlatte%20180215_0.pdf

Also

Josh Gerstein
‏*@joshgerstein*
Legal fallout from Trump decision to declassify GOP dossier memo has begun. 'It's a new frontier," judge said today in contentious exchange with government lawyer

www.politico.com/story/2018/02/15/trump-gop-memo-fbi-investigations-disclosures-415596

“You think the White House would have let a factually inaccurate memo go out to the public?” the judge asked skeptically. “Are you telling me that the Department of Justice is at odds with the president of the United States about the factual accuracy of the Nunes memo?”

Matthew Miller
@matthewamiller
Quite the pickle Trump has put DOJ in here by declassifying FISA info.

And

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Trey Gowdy wants John Kelly to release more info on the security clearances of senior staffers. Gowdy requests Kelly provide a list of all top aides serving under Trump whose security clearance statuses were either pending or had already been determined politi.co/2Bwq3sX

And

Oversight Committee‏Verified account
@GOPoversight
Committee sends follow-up letter to General Kelly, requests a list of all employees of the Executive Office of the President for a whom a security clearance was pending or has been adjudicated. 📰⬇️

twitter.com/GOPoversight/status/964239721756053506

U.S. spy agencies to brief state officials on election threats

www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-cyber/u-s-spy-agencies-to-brief-state-officials-on-election-threats-idUSKCN1FZ2ZF?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social

And

Eric Schneiderman
@AGSchneiderman
We just won a major victory in federal court, making clear that Citizens United can no longer shroud its biggest donors in secrecy.

twitter.com/AGSchneiderman/status/964199725024018432

And

The Hill
@thehill
JUST IN: Tillerson breaks protocol, meets with Turkish leaders without US translators hill.cm/c3tSAkx

And

David Folkenflik
@davidfolkenflik
@MaggieNYT and @kenvogel report some Trump inaugural committee $$$ went to Apprentice producer Mark Burnett, who was involved in producing inaugural activities - and whose unaired Trump footage never saw light of day

apnews.com/2778a6ab72ea49558445337865289508/ap-how-trumps-apprentice-moved-capitalism-sexism

And

Simran Jeet Singh‏Verified account
@SikhProf
3 days. 3 stories of Sikh Americans being shot, killed, and held at gunpoint.

Illinois. Georgia. Kentucky.

Gurjeet Singh, Parmjit "Rimmi" Singh, and Gary Singh.

"I hate turban people." "White power." Swastika.

And

HOW ICE WORKS TO STRIP CITIZENSHIP FROM NATURALIZED AMERICANS

theintercept.com/2018/02/14/ice-denaturalization-naturalized-citizen-immigration/

Ryan Tate
@ryantate
The government can strip citizenship with
-no right to an attorney
-or jury
-or statute of limitations
-or showing that an inaccuracy put on naturalization forms resulted in any benefit
-or criminal charge
It's "civil denaturalization" and ICE loves it

And

Newsweek
@Newsweek
ICE's former chief counsel in Seattle pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing immigrants’ identities bit.ly/2Gjahkt

And

STUDENTS WALK OUT OF TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL AFTER CLASSMATE DETAINED BY ICE

www.newsweek.com/students-high-school-protest-detained-ice-807400?utm_campaign=NewsweekTwitter&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

And

ICE Targets “Uncooperative Jurisdiction” of L.A. in Immigration Sweep

www.democracynow.org/2018/2/15/headlines/ice_targets_uncooperative_jurisdiction_of_la_in_immigration_sweep

Kim Masters
@kimmasters
ICE says because LA won’t cooperate, it is conducting “at-large arrests in the community, putting officers, the general public and the aliens at greater risk, and increasing the incidence of collateral arrests."
So payback all around.

And

Not a source from which I have posted before so pinch of salt and all that but interesting nonetheless (from January).

www.emptywheel.net/2018/01/30/trump-has-told-friends-and-aides-that-paul-manafort-can-incriminate-him/

'Most of all, I’m simply amazed at how stupid Trump is to be telling multiple people that Manafort could incriminate him.

I mean, sure, Mueller already knew that. But now he can start asking witnesses — including Steve Bannon, who recently doubled down on his suggestion that Manafort was a traitor, even if that young kid Don Jr is not, and who already has a date scheduled with Mueller’s team — whether Trump has told them this himself.'

Missed this from yesterday, didn't realise it had actually been passed. So as Maddow notes, the legislature takes advantage of the fact that news coverage was focused on the massacre and rolled back some of the disability act. Trump also took advantage of this to choose yesterday to release the inaugural funds, as noted upthread.

The Leadership Conference‏Verified account
@civilrightsorg
BREAKING: The House just passed #HR620, the ADA Education and Reform Act, which limits the power of the Americans with Disabilities Act and turns back the clock on disability rights in America. This is deeply shameful.

Vanita Gupta
@vanitaguptaCR
Disability rights are civil and human rights. The passage of #HR620 is shameful – Congress should be making it easier, not more difficult, for people with disabilities to lead independent lives.

civilrights.org/house-seeks-undermine-americans-disabilities-act/

Trump has not nominated anyone to be the director of the Office on Violence Against Women in the Justice Department.

It's one of more than 200 high-profile appointments that Trump has left vacant over the past 13 months.

www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/01/12/daily-202-trump-has-no-nominees-for-245-important-jobs-including-an-ambassador-to-south-korea/5a57cce830fb0469e8840085/?utm_term=.12065db26400&wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1