Dropping the Bomb: Lev Parnas’ interview with Rachel Maddow complicates Trump’s impeachment trial

The Secular Jurist

By Robert A. Vella

Well, now we know why Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi delayed sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate required to start President Trump’s trial.  She needed time to acquire additional evidence from Rudy Giuliani‘s indicted associate Lev Parnas after a federal court ruled that it was admissible.  That mass of evidence was released this week ahead of interviews Parnas had with The New York Times and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow who aired part-one of a two-hour video discussion last night (part-two airs tonight).

What Parnas revealed was a bombshell, to say the least.  Not only did he corroborate consistent witness testimony from the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry regarding Trump’s criminal scheme to coerce the Ukrainian government for personal political gain, he also implicated Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General William Barr, current and former Republican congressmen, GOP operatives and financiers, a…

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Friday Roundup: Oil Prices, Mueller investigation, Trump, Clinton, N.C. Election Fraud, and a Bomb Threat

Thanks for the updates. Today I learned that yet another Trump appointee might resign. The revolving door makes my head swim.

The Secular Jurist

By Robert A. Vella

Here’s the news roundup for another busy Friday:

oil prices

Russia has negotiated a deal between bitter rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran to raise crude oil prices on the world market by implementing across-the-board production cuts (with exemptions) which have been long-desired by OPEC nations and which have been vociferously opposed by President Trump.  However, the cuts may benefit U.S. shale oil producers who struggle to compete when market prices are low.  OPEC’s move also boosts Vladimir Putin’s prominence on the world stage as the Russian strongman appears to be abandoning his close relationship with the weakening American president.

Mueller investigation

Later today, Special Counsel Robert Mueller will submit disclosures in the court cases involving Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort.  Although the information will likely be redacted, as was evident in the court case for Trump’s former national…

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Trump Campaign Adviser Pleads Guilty; Manafort Indicted on conspiracy – ABC News

Pubished Using Press This

Source: Trump campaign adviser pleads guilty to misleading investigators about Russia contacts; Manafort indicted on conspiracy – ABC News

George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, pleaded guilty earlier this month to making false statements to FBI agents about his correspondence with Russian nationals and attempts to arrange a meeting between the campaign and Russian officials.

News of the plea came Monday morning, shortly after Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and Manafort’s longtime business associate Rick Gates were indicted on charges including conspiracy against the United States, money laundering and working as unregistered foreign agents.

New details emerge

Papadopoulos admitted to making false statements and making material omissions to investigators in January probing interference in the 2016 presidential election in relation to his contacts with a Russian professor with ties to the Russian government.

As outlined in the statement of Papadopoulos’ offense, the foreign policy adviser met with an individual who put him in contact with a woman whom he believed to a relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He later told Trump that he might be able to arrange a meeting between the candidate and the president. One of Papadopoulos’ contacts told him in April 2016 that the Russians “have dirt on” Hillary Clinton, after which he told campaign associates he had “interesting messages coming in from Moscow.”

In an FBI affidavit dated in July — when Papadopoulos was arrested — an agent noted that Papadopoulos’ contact tied to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent the adviser an email saying he had “just talked to my colleagues from the MFA.[They are] open for cooperating.” Papadopoulos responded and said he was “glad the MFA is interested” and forwarded the email to three senior Trump campaign officials.

After he was interviewed, Papadopoulos deactivated a Facebook account which contained information about his communications with the Russian contacts and stopped using his then-current cell phone number. Since his arrest, he has “met with the Government on numerous occasions to provide information and answer questions” since then, according to the plea documentation.

In a statement, attorneys for Papadopoulos declined to comment on the matter Monday, but said they “look forward to telling all of the details of George’s story” when called upon by the court.

A Gigantic Step Backwards: Trump Bans Transsexuals from the Military on the Anniversary of Truman’s Desegregation of the Armed Forces

The Inglorius Padre Steve's World

Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

Russian dissident Gary Kasparov said this on Twitter yesterday shortly after President Trump announced on the same platform that Transsexuals, even those currently serving honorably would not be allowed to serve in the military. Kasparov noted:

“The autocrat always requires enemies to protect his base from. If real enemies don’t exist, they will be created. Minorities preferred.”

Yesterday I was debating whether to write about President Harry Truman’s courageous decision sixty-nine years ago yesterday to desegregate the U.S. Military. I didn’t because first I have written about it before and I couldn’t come to a decision on how I wanted to approach it. So I wrote an article combining baseball that the principle of interiorizing public rules, norms, traditions, and behaviors that are necessary for our Republic to survive.

But this morning when I saw the series of three Trump tweets about excluding transsexuals from…

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There WAS A Terror Attack In Sweden Recently, But They Were Neo-Nazis.

It is interesting that Trump won’t recognize such groups as terrorists in the U.S., but does call them by that name when they’re in Sweden.

The Fifth Column

Olivier Douliery via Getty Images

ADDICTING INFO

This makes Trump look CLOWNISHLY bad.

Trump drew international attention—again—by claiming there was a terror attack in Sweden on the night of Feb. 17. To cover his gross lie, he tweeted today that his remarks were in reference to something Fox News reported, which is either just another lie, or a gross misunderstanding of a documentary Fox News aired. But it seems that there really was a terror attack in Sweden recently, in a city called Gothenburg.

The suspected terrorists in this attack were Neo-Nazis, and they attacked a refugee center in Gothenburg with a homemade bomb last month. One person was seriously injured in the attack.

Swedish intelligence said that the attack was linked to two others in Gothenburg, and appeared to be politically motivated, which isn’t shocking if the terrorists were white Neo-Nazis, and members of a white supremacist group…

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Trump calls Democrats ‘party of slavery’ in pitch for African American votes

But, Trump doesn’t address when and why those slave states turned Red.

The Fifth Column

Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Fountain Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

RAW STORY

Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday night called Democrats the “party of slavery” and praised what he called the millions of African Americans with career success, as he tries to revamp his outreach to minority voters.

Trump has made much-maligned efforts to appeal to black and Hispanic voters, groups that generally support Democrats and are expected to vote heavily for Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.

“The Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln,” Trump said at a rally in Everett, Washington.

“It is the Democratic Party that is the party of slavery, the party of Jim Crow and the party of opposition,” he said, referring to racial segregation laws that once existed in the American South.

The Republican nominee has said Democrats failed minority voters with…

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10 things you need to know today: August 14, 2016

From morning and into the night. a lot happened yesterday. Thanks for the info.

The Fifth Column

Gretchen Ehlke/Associated Press

THE WEEK

1. Violent protests, fires in Milwaukee after fatal police shooting Protest of a fatal police shooting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, turned violent late Saturday night as multiple local businesses, including a gas station and a bank, were set on fire. Some demonstrators also threw rocks at police officers, injuring one. The protest assembled in response to an incident Saturday afternoon in which police shot and killed a fleeing man armed with a stolen handgun after a traffic stop. The officer involved was reportedly wearing a body camera, but footage has yet to be released. Early Sunday morning, the Milwaukee Police Department tweeted that it was “restoring order” and “reducing deployments” in the neighborhood where the protest took place. Source: USA Today, CNN

2. Trump’s allies reportedly see him as ‘sullen,’ ‘erratic,’ and ‘exhausted’ by the campaign A report printed by The New York TimesSunday

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10 things you need to know today: October 26, 2015

The Fifth Column

AP Photo/Naveed Ali

THE WEEK

1. Powerful earthquake shakes Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India A 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit Monday in northern Afghanistan, with tremors felt in cities across the country, and in Pakistan and India. The full extent of the damage was not immediately known, but the powerful quake reportedly caused buildings to collapse. There were early reports of injuries near the epicenter in Afghanistan, and at least 43 deaths. People from Kabul to Islamabad described the quake as the most violent they had ever felt. “I thought it was the end of everything,” said one restaurant worker in Islamabad. Source: The Washington Post, The Associated Press

2. At least 5 killed when whale-watching boat sinks off British Columbia Five people died Sunday when a whale watching tour boat sank off of Tofino, British Columbia. The 64-foot boat, Leviathan II, was carrying 27 people when its crew sent out a…

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