Trump talk: HOW MUCH for that inauguration?

[PerkingFaintly]

We can start whole new threads for less than $26,000,000.

This one only cost 23p I found down the back of the sofa:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3171217-Trump-Talk-or-Lift-every-voice-and-sing?pg=1

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Melania Trump has parted ways with adviser Stephanie Winston Wolkoff after news broke about Wolkoff’s firm reaping $26,000,000 in payments to help plan Trump’s inauguration, NYT reports.
www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/us/politics/melania-trump-inauguration-adviser.html

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-tries-silence-stormy-daniels-n854646

Caroline O.
‏

@RVAwonk
3m3 minutes ago

107 House Republicans just sent a letter to Trump discouraging him from imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Aaaand zero House Republicans sent a letter to Trump urging him to impose the sanctions on Russia that WERE PASSED BY CONGRESS.

He just can’t help obstructing ...

thehill.com/homenews/administration/377303-trump-asked-senior-aides-to-describe-interviews-with-mueller-report

It’s as if he’s simultaneously proud of the US but ashamed of it. The statement is dodgy at best, anyway.

Fox News @FoxNews
3h3 hours ago
More
"After years of rebuilding other countries - and we have built a lot of countries - it's time to start building our country again."

WATCH: President @realDonaldTrump's full remarks to the Latino Coalition Legislative Summit - Part 2. fxn.ws/2FpRUdy

Meanwhile in North Korea: NK is not pleased with US plans to continue joint military exercises, and its persistent interference and aggression in the Korean Peninsula. (NK isn’t happy with Japan, either - that headline is ‘KCNA Commentary Warns Japan’s Ambition Will End in Ruin’.)

U.S. Will Have to Pay Dearly for Its Military Provocation: KCNA Commentary

Pyongyang, March 7 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is openly pushing ahead with its preparations for igniting a war of aggression in an attempt to reverse the atmosphere of detente on the Korean peninsula.

Recently, Military Times and other U.S. media reported that the U.S. army set it as this year's primary task to increase its capability for emergency overseas dispatch of troops.

According to them, the U.S. army decided to intensively stage drills for urgent deployment for field manoeuvres by giving an order of emergency call to units in the U.S. mainland without prior notice, promptly bringing the troops and equipment to the Asia-Pacific region including the Korean peninsula and Europe within 18 hours, and submitted the relevant budget bill to Congress.

It is going to change the policy of dispatching troops overseas to ensure that veteran soldiers can be dispatched to the Korean peninsula and Europe as fast as possible from Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is also getting frantic with the deployment of U.S. troops on the Korean peninsula and their drills of getting familiar with its terrain and arms buildup there.

The U.S. marines kicked off the drill for getting ready with winter combat in the countries like Russia and Korea.

The U.S. military is pushing ahead with plan to constantly deploy company-scale MQ-1C ultra-modern drones and support forces in south Korea.

Such military moves for aggression of the U.S. which is crying for the resumption of joint military exercises with south Korea are a grave provocation aimed to deliberately deteriorate the situation of the Korean peninsula and again push it to the brink of war.

Witnessing the ill-minded behavior of the U.S. before and after the Winter Olympics, the international community has been seriously concerned about whether detente and dialogue brought about with much effort may continue even after the Olympics or not.

Such concern has become a reality.

Asserting that the "phase of thaw in frozen south-north relations" will end with the end of the Olympics, the U.S. is calling for kicking off the joint military drills. It makes no scruple of letting out such wild remarks that it cannot but enter the "second phase" if sanctions on the DPRK do not work.

The U.S. charge d'affaires ad interim in south Korea said that if there is no progress in the "denuclearization" issue, there will be no substantial improvement in south-north relations, adding that it is necessary to take a step for joint deterrence to threat from north Korea and it is available only through joint military exercises.

The U.S. revealed its colors as chief culprit of the inter-Korean confrontation, a stumbling block in the way to reunification, wrecker of peace on the Korean peninsula and source of war of aggression.

Tragedy is that the U.S. is still ignorant of the DPRK.

The U.S. ill-intention to stifle the DPRK only hardens the will of the latter to tackle it by dint of justice.

The U.S. will have to face all the disasters to be caused by its reckless racket of aggression.

It had better lend an ear to the advice of the international community that it will have to pay dearly for military action against the DPRK. -0-

Lots has kicked off overnight (or during the day depending on your time zone!)

Robert Mueller has learned of two conversations in recent months in which Trump asked key witnesses about matters they discussed with investigators, three people familiar with the encounters tell NYT.

Trump Spoke to Witnesses About Matters They Discussed With Special Counsel
mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/us/politics/trump-witnesses-special-counsel-priebus-mcgahn.html

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
In on episode, "Trump asked his former chief of staff, Reince Priebus, how his interview had gone with the special counsel’s investigators and whether they had been 'nice,' according to two people familiar with the discussion."
"Experts said the meetings with Mr. McGahn and Mr. Priebus would probably sharpen Mr. Mueller’s focus on the president’s interactions with other witnesses... The experts also said the episodes could serve as evidence for Mr. Mueller in an obstruction case."
Interesting: NYT reports that John Kelly was present for both of these conversations.

^
In one episode, the president told an aide that the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, should issue a statement denying a New York Times article in January. The article said Mr. McGahn told investigators that the president once asked him to fire the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. Mr. McGahn never released a statement and later had to remind the president that he had indeed asked Mr. McGahn to see that Mr. Mueller was dismissed, the people said.^

[...]Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. McGahn unfolded in the days after the Jan. 25 Times article, which said that Mr. McGahn threatened to quit last June after the president asked him to fire the special counsel. After the article was published, the White House staff secretary, Rob Porter, told Mr. McGahn that the president wanted him to release a statement saying that the story was not true, the people said.

Mr. Porter, who resigned last month amid a domestic abuse scandal, told Mr. McGahn the president had suggested he might “get rid of” Mr. McGahn if he chose not to challenge the article, the people briefed on the conversation said.

Mr. McGahn did not publicly deny the article, and the president later confronted him in the Oval Office in front of the White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly, according to the people.

The president said he had never ordered Mr. McGahn to fire the special counsel. Mr. McGahn replied that the president was wrong and that he had in fact asked Mr. McGahn in June to call the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, to tell him that the special counsel had a series of conflicts that disqualified him for overseeing the investigation and that he had to be dismissed. The president told Mr. McGahn that he did not remember the discussion that way.

Mueller gathers evidence that 2017 Seychelles meeting was effort to establish back channel to Kremlin

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has gathered evidence that a secret meeting in Seychelles just before the inauguration of Donald Trump was an effort to establish a back channel between the incoming administration and the Kremlin — apparently contradicting statements made to lawmakers by one of its participants, according to people familiar with the matter.

In January 2017, Erik Prince, the founder of the private security company Blackwater, met with a Russian official close to Russian President Vladi­mir Putin and later described the meeting to congressional investigators as a chance encounter that was not a planned discussion of U.S.-Russia relations.

A witness cooperating with Mueller has told investigators the meeting was set up in advance so that a representative of the Trump transition could meet with an emissary from Moscow to discuss future relations between the countries, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

George Nader, a Lebanese American businessman who helped organize and attended the Seychelles meeting, has testified on the matter before a grand jury gathering evidence about discussions between the Trump transition team and emissaries of the Kremlin, as part of Mueller’s investigation into Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election.

Sarah Kendzior
@sarahkendzior
The Seychelles story was reported in April 2017. I'm glad Mueller is investigating it but it's been public knowledge for a year, and nothing has been done -- except incredible damage

www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/blackwater-founder-held-secret-seychelles-meeting-to-establish-trump-putin-back-channel/2017/04/03/95908a08-1648-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html

Every day is Deja News. Every day we hear Mueller is looking at a piece of publicly available information we've been screaming for people to act on for months or years.
Every day the Deja News is treated as a revelation, like the entire country has been consumed by temporary amnesia
Every day they take this country apart from the inside, in plain sight, in total disregard for our rights, and people pretend that the consequences won't last for decades

Melissa McEwan
@Shakestweetz
Replying to @sarahkendzior
We talk about this all the time, how things keep getting reported that we already know as if they're new, which just adds to the feeling of being constantly gaslighted. How many conversations have we had about that?

Trump donor in Ukraine criminal probe

Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy under scrutiny over alleged deal with sanctioned Russian bank VTB.

www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2018/03/trump-donor-ukraine-criminal-probe-180307124432781.html

The Prosecutor General of Ukraine has launched an investigation into claims surrounding an alleged multi-million dollar lobbying contract that names one of US President Donald Trump's most influential fundraisers, Elliott Broidy.

The 12-page document, which appears to have been signed by Broidy, outlines his role as providing "political advocacy" on behalf of a now sanctioned Russian bank, VTB.

The deal was apparently dated June 12, 2014, just weeks before VTB Bank was blacklisted by the US and EU as a key Kremlin asset following Russia's invasion of Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin is guest of honor at VTB Bank's investor conference every year.

The document raises serious questions about whether Broidy is in breach of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law that has gained prominence following the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller into foreign meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his aide Rick Gates have both been charged as a result of their work in Ukraine.

The document, obtained by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit, also suggests that Broidy, a national deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, would provide the same services to Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU), a Ukraine brokerage which has acted as financial advisors to President Petro Poroshenko.

"If this is a bonafide document, it is very troubling," says the Washington-based organisation Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

"Broidy appears to be an unregistered agent of a foreign principal in violation of federal law," says spokesman Jordan Libowitz.

Kyle Griffin
Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Jared Kushner did not invite the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Roberta S. Jacobson — a diplomat with more than 30 years of experience in the region — to his meetings today with top Mexican officials, NYT reports

Kushner Meets With Mexican President, Underscoring Shift in U.S. Diplomacy

mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/world/americas/kushner-mexico-president-diplomacy.html

Andrea Mitchell
@mitchellreports
Veteran Ambassadors say another example why they are quitting: routinely cut out of policy meetings by White House and Tillerson. Why we have no one in key regions

Susan Simpson
@TheViewFromLL2
Something I'd love to see a reporter ask Trump Org about:

1. Cohen formed EC LLC on Oct 17 2016
2. The contract provided for EC LLC to pay Stormy $130K by Oct 27 2016
3. Between Oct 17 & Oct 25, the Trump campaign made payments to Trump Org properties that add up to $129,999.72.

[speaking of hush money, this was my favourite bit in the nbc piece detailing the latest on trump’s efforts to gag Stormy Daniels:

"I have had conversations with the president about this and as I outlined earlier, this case had already been won in arbitration," Sanders said. It's unclear what Sanders was referring to; Trump is not listed as a party on the restraining order issued by the arbitration judge.

Asked about that comment, Avenatti quipped, "Yeah, and he won the popular vote, too." ]

Sinclair's new media-bashing promos rankle local anchors

amp.cnn.com/money/2018/03/07/media/sinclair-broadcasting-promos-media-bashing/index.html

"This is so manipulative."

That's an anchor at a local TV station owned by Sinclair, describing the company's latest mandate, a promotional campaign that sounds like pro-Trump propaganda.

Internal documents call the new initiative an "anchor delivered journalistic responsibility message."

But the staffers who shared the documents with CNN say the promos are inappropriate -- yet another corporate infringement on local journalism.

"At my station, everyone was uncomfortable doing it," a local anchor said. The person insisted on anonymity because they believed they would be fired for speaking out.

Other local anchors also said the promos were a source of dismay in their newsrooms.

As scripted, the promos decry "fake stories" from national news outlets -- echoing President Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about "fake news."

The promos are supposed to start airing on local stations later this month. The instructions sent to station news directors say that the 60- and 75-second spots should run frequently "to create maximum reach and frequency."

The promo requirements are the latest reason why some Sinclair journalists are upset with the company's Maryland-based management. In recent years Sinclair's owners, the Smith family, have made several programming decisions that reflect a right-wing agenda.

Most noticeably, pro-Trump commentaries by former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn have cut into local news time. Local journalists have also bristled at so-called "must run" packages about subjects that aren't relevant to local audiences -- but are hot-button stories for conservatives. The "Terrorism Alert Desk" is a regular segment about security threats around the world.

Sinclair's political bent has been a factor in its pending acquisition of Tribune Media. Sinclair is already the biggest owner of local television stations in the country with 173 it either owns or operates and Tribune will give it dozens more, furthering the company's ambitions. Some analysts believe Sinclair wants to rival Fox News, although officials at Sinclair have rejected those suggestions.

[...]The instructions to local stations say that the promos "should play using news time, not commercial time." Like the Epshteyn commentaries, this takes away from local news time.

"Please produce the attached scripts exactly as they are written," the instructions say. "This copy has been thoroughly tested and speaks to our Journalistic Responsibility as advocates to seek the truth on behalf of the audience."

The promos begin with one or two anchors introducing themselves and saying "I'm [we are] extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that [proper news brand name of local station] produces. But I'm [we are] concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one sided news stories plaguing our country."

Then the media bashing begins.

"The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media," the script says. "More alarming, national media outlets are publishing these same fake stories without checking facts first. Unfortunately, some members of the national media are using their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control 'exactly what people think' ... This is extremely dangerous to our democracy."

Then the anchors are supposed to strike a more positive tone and say that their local station pursues the truth. "We understand Truth is neither politically 'left or right.' Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever."

On its face, some of the language is not controversial. But that's precisely why some staffers were so troubled by it. The promo script, they say, belies Sinclair management's actual agenda to tilt reporting to the right.

"I felt like a POW recording a message," one of the anchors said.

Florida legislature backs new gun restrictions after Parkland school shooting

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/florida-legislature-backs-new-gun-restrictions-after-parkland-school-shooting/2018/03/07/f97057ea-2229-11e8-badd-7c9f29a55815_story.html

Florida lawmakers bucked the National Rifle Association on Wednesday to pass new firearms regulations and create a program for arming some school employees in a rare act of Republican compromise on the divisive issue of gun violence.

The response to the slayings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., signaled a major shift for a state known as a legal laboratory for gun rights activists. It could become a blueprint for other states looking at new measures to address mass shootings.

Charles Koch: Corporations need to 'reject' Trump's tariffs

thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/377317-charles-koch-corporations-need-to-reject-trumps-tariffs

To be fair, on the gaslighting point, it has to be pointed out that just because these things are now leaking into the press, doesn't mean they have not been looked at for some time by Mueller and before that, others.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mueller-gathers-evidence-that-2016-seychelles-meeting-was-effort-to-establish-back-channel-to-kremlin/2018/03/07/b6a5fb8c-224b-11e8-94da-ebf9d112159c_story.html?utm_term=.b8f0ed62c1d4

I think the point is that its not being leaked to the press now. The Seychelles meeting was reported in WAPO almost a year ago (link to this is post at 6.16am upthread) - the only new information is that mueller is looking at it, which as you say, we could’ve guessed before.

I think the gaslighting is by politicians who dismissed all this information when it first came out, saying there was no evidence of collusion and it was all a nothingburger and a with hunt, which was patently not true. And which is now being refuted as mueller is looking at it.

Ah, that gaslighting. I thought they were talking about the MSM.

Just been reading the stuff about what various news outlets knew about Trump before and during the campaign and what they chose to ignore.

I think there was something about CNN reporters losing their jobs when they tried to report a story that was just confirmed by NYT. But they were fired for not following procedures or somesuch rather than for reasons of censorship.

That’s my interpretation lion so it may very well be wrong and you could be right! And this new news is that there is a witness saying the meeting was set up and not just a “serendipitous thirty minute chat over a beer” but even though they denied it before, it was pretty clear it wasn’t a coincidence so doesn’t feel like new news. I wonder whether prince will face any penalties for lying to the house intelligence committee.

I saw that about the cnn reporters but didn’t know it was for not following procedures so that’s useful to know.

Lewandowski is meeting with the HIC today. I wonder what privilege he’ll assert to avoid being questions or held accountable. I reckon as it’s international women’s day, it’s only fitting if he’d opt for “white male privilege”.

Aah yes. That.

Dr. Kathie Allen
‏
Verified account

@kathieallenmd

The Utah Senate just passed legislation requiring pregnant women to watch an anti-abortion video, and making it a crime for a provider to fail to show it. Vote: 21-5. Only 5 dems just aren't enough to 🛑 the interference w/women's rights. Passed House, en route to Gov.

Still. It is International Women's Day so maybe WMP won't work as a defence.

@blueskyinmarch
I wandered on to the thread to see what has been going on and i find myself backing out slowly shaking my head. I have no words

Yes. I tend to screen the news, think fuckers and assholes, and rarely find the strength to comment.
Unless it can be made funny.
Speaking of which, and as a summary, posted yesterday:

Or no chaos, just great energy:

Ken Klippenstein
@kenklippenstein
SCOOP: Saudi Arabia is spending up to $450,000 per month to lobby the Trump admin on uranium enrichment (for a nuclear program).

The money is going to a law firm that represents Trump's real estate empire.

My latest: tytnetwork.com/2018/03/08/saudi-arabia-using-law-firm-tied-to-lobby-u-s-for-nuclear-deal/

Trump partied with Russian oligarchs at Vegas nightclub shut down over ‘lewd’ acts involving women and urine: report

www.rawstory.com/2018/03/trump-partied-russian-oligarchs-vegas-nightclub-shut-lewd-acts-involving-women-urine-report/

Hi all, I have some catching up to do on here, although have been following the latest shenanigans, (just unable to post). Surely the wheels are coming off the bus now?

I did post something on Twitter regarding gun control that took off with over 4,000 likes fame at last and I'm just hoping that the momentum can be kept up for big change over in the US, I do think that vile NRA spokeswoman has shot herself in the foot with her latest threatening video, we shall see...

I saw that Utah ruling with the obligatory anti abortion film. One woman tweeted that she would close her eyes, stick her fingers in her ears and go 'la la la la' and there ain't a thing anyone can do about that

David Wright
‏*@DavidWright*_CNN
From @Acosta: A source close to White House says Trump is upset with @PressSec Sarah Sanders over her handling of Stormy Daniels questions yesterday. “POTUS is very unhappy,” the source said. “Sarah gave the Stormy Daniels storyline steroids yesterday,” the source added.