June 25, 2017

"A secretive Washington firm that commissioned the dubious intelligence dossier on Donald Trump is stonewalling congressional investigators trying to learn more about its connections to the Democratic Party."

The NY Post reports.
Fusion GPS describes itself as a “research and strategic intelligence firm” founded by “three former Wall Street Journal investigative reporters.” But congressional sources says it’s actually an opposition-research group for Democrats, and the founders, who are more political activists than journalists, have a pro-Hillary, anti-Trump agenda....

139 comments:

Bad Lieutenant said...

Get the can opener.

Earnest Prole said...

Dems push leaders to talk less about Russia

“Frustrated Democrats hoping to elevate their election fortunes have a resounding message for party leaders: Stop talking so much about Russia.

“Democratic leaders have been beating the drum this year over the ongoing probes into the Trump administration’s potential ties to Moscow, taking every opportunity to highlight the saga and forcing floor votes designed to uncover any business dealings the president might have with Russian figures.

“But rank-and-file Democrats say the Russia-Trump narrative is simply a non-issue with district voters, who are much more worried about bread-and-butter economic concerns like jobs, wages and the cost of education and healthcare.

“In the wake of a string of special-election defeats, an increasing number of Democrats are calling for an adjustment in party messaging, one that swings the focus from Russia to the economy.”

Hari said...

Trump should Tweet that perhaps the reason Obama went easy on the Russians is that the Russians had all of Hillary's private server emails, including the ones Obama had sent her. Maybe it was Obama who was being blackmailed.

George M. Spencer said...

This is a knock-out story. Real good reporting.

"[Spy] Steele contracted with Fusion GPS to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia starting in June 2016, whereupon he outlandishly claimed that Hillary campaign hackers were “paid by both Trump’s team and the Kremlin” and that the operation was run out of Putin’s office. He also fed Fusion GPS and its Hillary-allied clients incredulous gossip about Trump hating the Obamas so much that he hired hookers to urinate on a bed they slept in at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton, and that Russian intelligence recorded the pee party in case they needed to blackmail Trump.

Never mind that none of the rumors were backed by evidence or even credible sourcing (don’t bother trying to confirm his bed-wetting yarn, Steele advised, as “all direct witnesses have been silenced”). Steele reinforced his paying customers’ worst fears about Trump, and they rewarded him for it with a whopping $250,000 in payments.

But it’s now clear his “intelligence reports,” which together run more than 35-pages long, were for the most part worthless. And the clients who paid Fusion GPS (which claims to go “beyond standard due diligence”) for them got taken to the cleaners.

Steele’s most sensational allegations remain unconfirmed. For instance, his claim that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen held a “clandestine meeting” on the alleged hacking scheme in Prague with “Kremlin officials” in August 2016 unraveled when Cohen denied ever visiting Prague, his passport showed no stamps showing he left or entered the US at the time, witnesses accounted for his presence here, and Czech authorities found no evidence Cohen went to Prague.

Steele hadn’t worked in Moscow since the 1990s and didn’t actually travel there to gather intelligence on Trump firsthand. He relied on third-hand “friend of friend” sourcing. In fact, most of his claimed Russian sources spoke not directly to him but “in confidence to a trusted compatriot” who, in turn, spoke to Steele — and always anonymously.

But his main source may have been Google. Most of the information branded as “intelligence” was merely rehashed from news headlines or cut and pasted — replete with errors — from Wikipedia."

All lies. Amazing.

Unknown said...

Most of the Steele dossier has been confirmed by the Intelligence Community. The pee pee tapes exist. Watch this space as it plays out over the next 18 to 24 months.

The Trumpski's wishful thinking won't make it go away. Where there is smoke there is fire. With Trump there are many smokes and fires.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Corruptocrats.

Matt Sablan said...

This is my shocked face. Just like the DNC didn't cooperate with the FBI.

Unknown said...

Btw, ...

Trump tweet on 13 Oct 2014:
"Can you believe that, with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf."

Today:
Trump is at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia - marking 30+ visits to his golf clubs in 21 weeks since inauguration.

This works at at nearly 1.5 golf visits per week.

A lazy Black dude in the White House? Err, no. A lazy White dude in the White House. Trump is also costing the American tax payers a huge fortune in travel and security costs for him and his family. Trump will have spent more in one year than Obama did in 8 years.

You've been conned Trumpski's, you just don't know it.

Matt Sablan said...

Actually several key facts, such as certain people being in certain places according to the dossier were proven false. Which is one of the many reasons Democrats dropped it months ago.

Kevin said...

"Trump should Tweet that perhaps the reason Obama went easy on the Russians is that the Russians had all of Hillary's private server emails, including the ones Obama had sent her. Maybe it was Obama who was being blackmailed."

Tomorrow's Tweets today!

Kevin said...

"it’s actually an opposition-research group for Democrats,"

To quote Gomer Pyle: Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Tommy Duncan said...

Allow me to post for Inga:

See how the Trump team spins in order to distort reality? This is a transparent attempt to attack the messenger. Trump has had months to prove hookers didn't urinate on the bed.

Kevin said...

"Steele’s most sensational allegations remain unconfirmed. For instance, his claim that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen held a “clandestine meeting” on the alleged hacking scheme in Prague with “Kremlin officials” in August 2016 unraveled when Cohen denied ever visiting Prague, his passport showed no stamps showing he left or entered the US at the time, witnesses accounted for his presence here, and Czech authorities found no evidence Cohen went to Prague."

Yes, but is there anything about that Trump hotel in Azerbaijan?

Bad Lieutenant said...

'Most of the pee pee tapes exist. Watch Trumpski's wishful thinking go away. Where there is smoke there is fire. Blablabla...'--Comrade Trumpski
6/25/17, 9:15 AM

Unknown, or Trumpski as I now dub thee, a fig for your opinion. You're not even an American. Who cares what a foreigner thinks? You're probably Russian, Comrade Trumpski.

Darrell said...

After rolling up an additional $20 Trillion deficit, now the Democrats are concerned about Trump's travel costs. You can't make this stuff up.

MikeR said...

My son sent me this. He likes to watch aljazeera. English sounds normal, but the Arabic...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULtNYSUqYHw
No way that this can have a place in modern civilization.

cubanbob said...

It looks like the only collusion with the Russians is that on the part of the Clinton campaign, the DNC and the Obama Administration.

cubanbob said...

It looks like Loretta Lynch is also going to be a subject of investigation. The wheels of the Democrat bus are starting to get loose.

traditionalguy said...

Oh yeah. That was the Fake Intelligence out of the Kremlin that provide probable cause for the next 10,000 unmasking of political opponents wild rumors of investigations straight out of Joe McCatthy's playbook.

And later it was hailed by CNN as the finishing off of Trump forever revelation.

Fen said...

Fucking traitors. FBI should arrest them. I also want to know which specific "journalists" used these liars as sources.

Bay Area Guy said...

It is nearly 8 months after the 2016 election. The Dem lost.

We've had 4 special congressional elections since then - the Dems lost each one.

They have rioted, protested, worn Pink Pussy Hats, demanded recounts, demanded the electoral college be changed, elevated Tom Perez to be head of the DNC - and pushed a phony narrative about Russian "collusion" to explain their 2016 loss.

Have you ever seen a bigger group of crybaby losers than the Democratic Party?

Indeed, the most influential voice of the Democrat Party - Bernie Sanders - is technically not even a Democrat.

Here's Bernie on 6.13.17 in the NYT:

In 2016, the Democratic Party lost the presidency to possibly the least popular candidate in American history. In recent years, Democrats have also lost the Senate and House to right-wing Republicans whose extremist agenda is far removed from where most Americans are politically. Republicans now control almost two-thirds of governor’s offices and have gained about 1,000 seats in state legislatures in the past nine years. In 24 states, Democrats have almost no political influence at all.

If these results are not a clear manifestation of a failed political strategy, I don’t know what is.

JAORE said...

Uh oh. The peasants are beginning to notice that the "We've got him by the Russki's" stories are NOT leading to impeachment/banishment/jail.

And the collusion horse is not only looking a bit winded, it keeps wanting to turn left.

Gusty Winds said...

At this point, the Russians seem less dangerous than the Democrats.

Gusty Winds said...

"Confirmed by the intelligence community" is the bullshit line 2017.

Earnest Prole said...

Russia, collusion, and obstruction are nothingburgers, which is why the action will by necessity shift to a leaky investigation of Trump's taxes and business dealings (and if a federal investigator can't frame Trump with that source material, he should choose another line of work). Remember, the Clinton investigation started with a backwoods land deal and ended with cigars, a blue dress, and impeachment.

Lyle Smith said...

Latter day Pinkertons... making up numbers that their clients believe in.

Michael said...

The Trump "dossier" was prepared by a former member of the British Intelligence, or so it is alleged. The former British Intelligence agent, described an event as occurring at the time of the World Soccer Championships. No Brit uses the term "soccer." An easy tell that the whold "dossier was crap, a fiction.

MaxedOutMama said...

Inevitable.

Just wait until the voting studies are done. I get the feeling that behind the scenes, the Donald Menace and a few Republicans are plotting out a continuously rolling series of "investigative reports" in 2018 that will be harshly derogatory to the Democratic party elite.

The media, at this point, might be playing into Donald the Menace's hands.

Darrell said...

The Trump "dossier" was prepared by a bunch of trolls at 4 Chan and they presented proof, right when the story broke. McCain spent taxpayers' money buying it from an ex-MI5 bolshie and flying over a staffer to pick it up.

Fen said...

"least popular candidate in popular history"

That would be Hillary, chump. She was so despised that she lost to a celebrity blowhard.

And don't give me that crap about "winning" the popular vote - the popular vote was not the gosl of either campaign. You can't win what isn't in play, because your opponent is not trying for it.

Francisco D said...

This will play out in an interesting way. You know that the Senate Intelligence Committee will be getting somewhere when the Democrats become even more loudly unhinged.

People should go to jail, but they won't. Not when the former FBI director has been obviously covering for the Clintons for some time. His buddies are still in important positions to obstruct justice.

Before long, we will hear the old Clinton refrain, "That's been investigated. It's old news."

Bay Area Guy said...

What does it say about the Democrat Party when their de facto leader is a 74-year old Socialist from Vermont and their number 1 issue is a phony Russian-Trump "collusion" story from the 2016 election?

walter said...

So hard to believe Piss-gate wasn't real. I mean..it was such a plausible story on its face..
I remember the frenzied posts here swallowing it whole with glee.

MaxedOutMama said...

But the real flaming kicker from the article is:
The Senate Judiciary Committee is also investigating whether the FBI has wrongly relied on the anti-Trump dossier and its author, Christopher Steele — the old spy who was hired by Fusion GPS to build a Russia file on Trump — to aid its ongoing espionage investigation into the Trump campaign and its possible ties to Moscow.

The FBI received a copy of the Democrat-funded dossier in August, during the heat of the campaign, and is said to have contracted in October to pay Steele $50,000 to help corroborate the dirt on Trump — a relationship that “raises substantial questions about the independence” of the bureau in investigating Trump, warned Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.


The FBI paid these people? This is so corrupt it is unbelievable - and this is why I was so deathly afraid of a Hillary Clinton presidency. Tentacles everywhere, and of course Hillary Clinton herself defines "unethical". Actually she's amoral. There's no moral core at all to her.

J2 said...

They were all blind-sided by the Trump win. The cover-ups were half-assed. No wonder they need to destroy Trump - the crimes committed by Brennan and Clapper were treasonous. And always remember McCains flogging of the dossier.

Comey could flip on this stuff; he will be a bad guy again.

Drago said...

Bay Area Guy: "What does it say about the Democrat Party when their de facto leader is a 74-year old Socialist from Vermont and their number 1 issue is a phony Russian-Trump "collusion" story from the 2016 election?"

That, ironically, this represents a step UP for them?

What we need is MORE cowbell and MORE Adam Schiff-ty!

That's gotta help the Dems with The Deplorables.

Drago said...

MaxedOutMama: "The FBI paid these people?"

Indeed.

McCabe is the Clinton team player who ran point on this for the FBI.

A fake dossier used as probable cause for a FISA warrant and unlimited spying in Trump, his campaign and his family.

In addition to the mass surveillance of the American people with the Obama administration weaponizing that info.

The hearings coming up in Oct for an extension of these capabilities will be most lluminating.

David Begley said...

Name an appealing and attractive leader for the Dems? Schumer? Pelosi? Warren? Perez? Schiff?

Unknown said...

Trumpski News Network: "Carrier workers facing layoffs feel betrayed by Trump" (CBS News).

No, really. Whoda thunk dat.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Here is the number one comment from NYT readers on Dowd's 0 for 4 special election loses by the Dems. The problems the Dems have is their constituents are assholes and everybody hates them.

gemliBoston
I keep hearing that the Democratic Party needs strong, energetic leaders and a compelling, relevant message. But Democrats are already getting the most powerful message of all: the Orange Julius Caesar is in power, and he’s destroying the country. If that’s not a message to send Democrats to the polls, I don’t know what is.

This blithering idiot sailed to victory dragging tons of baggage behind him. From the groping to the cheating to the fraud to the mush-mouthed incoherence to the childish taunts to the rallies replete with white supremacists, there was nothing he could say that wouldn’t curdle the blood of any normal, empathetic and informed individual.

Some Democrats didn’t like Hillary, or they were miffed at Bernie's rejection, or they assumed that a dummy would never win the White House. That’s the trouble with Democrats. They’re smart in a hundred different, nuanced ways. It’s like herding cats to get them working together for a common goal.

But dumb people are all dumb in just one, unifying all-encompassing and magnificently simple way. Dangle something shiny in front of them, and they’re yours. The time it saves!

So Democrats have to find just the right person to deliver just the right message to just the right voters, and hope that the delicate interplay of intellectual struts and beams doesn’t collapse. No wonder the G.O.P. is wiping the floor with us.

Idiots are in power! What more of a message do we need?
June 24, 2017 at 4:32 p.m.

Recommend (968)

traditionalguy said...

Ossoff is all the Dems have groomed and ready to go. Seriously, he appears to be the blank slate like Macron in France. They have the money and the Media to elect him.

Unknown said...

Trumpski News Network: "Based on an employer survey, as many as 27 million people in employer plans nationwide could face limits." (Axios)

If you're on an employer health plan get ready for limits and watch those personal bankruptcies increase.

Btw, Trumpski's are not exempt from Trumpcare. Tough luck.

walter said...

Marty O'Malley!
I know.."Who?"

Darrell said...

If Democrats could dig up Che Guevara and patch a few holes, they's have themselves an unbeatable candidate. For their base.

Achilles said...

Not nearly enough people are going to be going to jail. D.C. Is chock full of treasonous shitheads who will walk instead of hanging.

They should all be very invested in the health and success of Donald J Trump.

Marc in Eugene said...

I imagine that the mysterious Florida swampland that Mr Trump owns is a part of all this, somehow.

Real American said...

Sid Blumenthal.

Sebastian said...

If the whole Russia narrative was fed by false oppo research AND was aided and paid for by the FBI itself, the level of collusion involved would show that we cynical conservatives are just not cynical enough.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Lyle Smith: "Latter day Pinkertons... making up numbers that their clients believe in."

Hey, thanks for that. Been a couple of decades since my Bruce Catton / Civil War buff times.

Lewis Wetzel said...

This isn't really news, is it?
If you took the trouble to look at the origin of the Steele Dossier, you've known this for months.
What a crappy mainstream media we have. Failure at every level.

buwaya said...

Well, as I have often said, you all aren't paranoid enough.

This is a very minor bit of prankish idiocy compared to the enormous scale of institutional corruption. One way or another this great Kaiju will start smashing the US economy, which it has simply been sitting on for the last 15 years or so. Most likely after the system finally neutralizes Trump.

I have been finalizing some hedges, abroad, wrt our retirement funds.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

The wonder is that through it all, President Trump just keeps on chugging.

President Trump. Gaining more respect as each day passes and the MSM continues to be-clown itself. (Dare I say "Garnering?")

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

An update on MAGA:

Ford Motor’s plans to build its popular Focus compact cars in China, rather than Michigan

China is already the world’s largest automaker, with annual car production roughly equal to that of the United States and Japan combined. Chinese players have long wanted to develop underused factories dotting major cities to increase production and export the excess.

The global auto parts industry has shifted much of its production to China, partly because of low costs and partly because China’s steep tariffs make it impossible for multinational manufacturers to compete in the Chinese market unless they produce in China.

Michael K said...

"With Trump there are many smokes and fires."

Yes and they are setting your underwear on fire.

You know, the edible ones.

That you wear to parties.

buwaya said...

China also plays nasty tarriff and regulatory games to keep manufacturing investors out of its neighbors, like the Philippines and Vietnam. Thats one little-mentioned category of targeted aggression.

Seeing Red said...

Bernie and his wife have lawyered up. He's toast. Hopefully she's jailbait. OPM

walter said...

You're right ARM, Trump (and establishment repubs) should step things up a bit. I'm sure the Dems will help..positively.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

because China’s steep tariffs make it impossible for multinational manufacturers to compete in the Chinese market unless they produce in China.

That is how you got Trump. Free trade my ass.

Michael K said...

I'll bet ARM doesn't know that Ford lost money on every Fiesta it made.

Car companies like Ford make almost all their profit on pickup trucks and SUVs. Small cars like Focus and Fiesta have traditionally been loss leaders to attract buyers to the brand at prices below $20,000, and also to enable the company to offset the low fuel-economy of their trucks and SUVs and meet government regulations on fleetwide fuel economy.

The Michigan plant will make profitable trucks.

Seeing Red said...

Ummm, I've always had limits in my health care plan. So what's the issue?

wildswan said...

Sources are telling you "jam tomorrow" but in reality there isn't going to be a big rock candy revelation or election, my sad-feelz Dem friends.

Why?

The Dems are still running on the issue "Donald the Terrible", a losing issue. In July 2016 Hillary and her campaign decided on that strategy as James Carville explained on election night on MSNBC. It almost July 2017, and the Dems have lost all elections run on that strategy but their campaign managers still think it's a winner because it raises money. Apparently that is the performance metric for campaign managers. Over in the real world Americans want a strong economy, jobs, a border and a strong national defense. As long as Hillary and Co. pussysnit about, raising money by generating hysteria and trash talking and spending said money on the media while Trump works on the issues the Republicans will win. Unexpectedly.

As the song says about the Titanic: "It was sad, it was sad, it was sad when the great ship went down". But it would be sadder to see it hoisted up and sailing into the iceberg again ... and again... and again... and again. And that's exactly what Captain Hillary and First Mate Pelosi are doing to the Dems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic#/media/File:St%C3%B6wer_Titanic.jpg

Lewis Wetzel said...

"The global auto parts industry has shifted much of its production to China, partly because of low costs and partly because China’s steep tariffs make it impossible for multinational manufacturers to compete in the Chinese market unless they produce in China."
You want a revolution? A real, off-with-their-heads revolution?
Get people to believe that their economic lives are at the mercy of nameless, faceless, unalterable economic forces.

Yancey Ward said...

You want to know how fake the dossier is- this is how you know:

All of the mainstream new organizations had a copy of this before the election- all of them. No one published it, and the reason is so obvious that I shouldn't have to point it out- they couldn't confirm any of it and literally knew its publication would backfire on the Clinton Campaign.

One of my more "outlandish" theories is that if you dig down deep enough, you will find that it wasn't Democrats who paid to have this document created, though they were certainly passing it around late last Summer- it was paid for by people connected to the Republican Party. I think it may well have been the Hail Mary attempt to dump Trump at the convention in late July.

Fen said...

ARM: [more of the usual shit]

It's not as big a deal as you are making it out to be. You know why? Because Hillary Clinton will never be President. Suck it, sore loserman.

And where are the usual suspects? They touted Russia Something Russia as doom for Trump. Any mea culpas? Any shame or embarassment for pitching fake news? Maybe a fucking apology for wasting everyone's time with their stupid shit?

Of course not. They just move on to the Something Mumble Something without any remorse or concern for their credibility. Why, it's almost as if they are just as corrupt as Hillary Clinton.

And they wonder why we tell them to fuck off.

Darrell said...

Remember when the Obama Administration said a YouTube video that was seen by a couple of hundred people was the cause of the Benghazi/Egypt riots and attack and the MSM pushed that explanation for months? And then the MSM never called the Obama people liars or demanded an explanation? Now they did it again with the Russia lies--from the same people. If that girl talked the entire MSM into committing suicide, I'd never vote to convict.

Birkel said...

buwaya:

I have said for many years that the United States is busy eating the seed corn. We are living off past production and eating the corn that should be used for planting and later harvesting.

Instead of creating new wealth through voluntary exchange in which both sides of the transaction win, we're busy rearranging and redistributing. We're arguing about cuts in future growth rates of programs that exist only because of borrowed trillions. It is a corrupt political system that relies on tortured language.

We should all be so lucky as to effectively hedge against the inevitable.

Jersey Fled said...

Looks like Trumski and ARM are in full, frantic "change the subject" mode now.

Kevin said...

"If these results are not a clear manifestation of a failed political strategy, I don’t know what is." -- Bernie Sanders

Maybe he should stop describing them as "extreme" then? Maybe he should consider whether it's the party that's losing all these elections that's the extreme one?

Kevin said...

"That’s the trouble with Democrats. They’re smart in a hundred different, nuanced ways."

The other side is dumb. And how smart is my side? Let me count the nuanced ways.

Introspection thy name is not the Democrats.

John henry said...

Blogger traditionalguy said...

unmasking of political opponents wild rumors of investigations straight out of Joe McCatthy's playbook.

Name 3 people who Joe McCarthy "unmasked" who did not subsequently turn out to be either directly or indirectly in the pay of the Soviets.

John Henry

John henry said...

Blogger Bay Area Guy said...

leader is a 74-year old Socialist from Vermont

Who has always, since his days as a mayor, been very vocal about NOT being a Democrat and has never been a member of the Democrat Party. (Except for about 6 months from Dec 15 to June 16)

Some party leadership.

John Henry

Gojuplyr831@gmail.com said...

The reason the Dems are fleeing the Russian interference story in droves is because the smartest man in the room blew it all to hell. Trying to show how he is smarter than everyone and he knew all about it and was concerned - he now claims he told the Russians to "cut it out" (his words). Trump has proceeded to beat ungodly hell out of him with his own words, and his own lack of action. The Dems are caught between a rock and a hard place. Either the story is BS, or Oabama and the Dems epically failed to protect one the the country's most important political processes.

The wheels on the Dem bus are going around just fine. They need to be running in very good condition to cope with the Dems that are going to thrown under it.

Achilles said...

The Venn diagram of people who are at anti-pipeline/fracking demostations supported financially by Russia and believe in trump Russia collusion has much overlap.

Throw in immunity to cognitive dissonance too.

Birkel said...

Tapeworms learn to avoid pain. Tapeworms do not blame what hurts them. Tapeworms do not look to prove causation. They just know to avoid the pain in the future by acting differently the next time.

When the pain is administered, electorally, Democrats blame the voters. Democrats do not move away from the pain. They seemingly cannot determine how or even if the pain was caused by their own behavior. But instead of recognizing pain and determining to act differently next time, Democrats just do more of what they were already planning to do.

Draw your own conclusions.

Michael K said...

McCarthy's problem was that he said he had more names than he had. He also went overboard accusing Eisenhower and others when that was ridiculous.

Venona confirmed he was right but he had no proof while he was alive.

Gojuplyr831@gmail.com said...

The Dems are going to need a bus with serious off road capabilities to handle all the people that will be going under it.

Is there a HUMVEE bus?

Michael K said...

"Tapeworms do not look to prove causation. "

I think you mean flatworms which can learn, unlike Democrats.

Tapeworms do resemble Democrats in living on shit.

Darrell said...

VENONA, which he was relying on, confirmed he was right. But he let his career be destroyed rather than violating the secrecy code.

Birkel said...

Yes, Michael K, flatworms. Thank you.

Brain fart. Hate when that happens.

walter said...

High ridin' bus

Kevin said...

"Draw your own conclusions."

Flatworms lack nuance.

Paul said...

I'm sure lawsuits can be arranged to force them, in discovery, to reveal what they know. Go sue them!

John henry said...

Blogger Marc Puckett said...

I imagine that the mysterious Florida swampland that Mr Trump owns is a part of all this, somehow.

Thanks for the link, Mark. It is far more interesting for the tone making it sound like something nefarious than for the actual facts.

President Trump owns a worthless quarter acre of Florida swamp for which he paid a dollar and pays $69 in annual property tax.

WOW!!!!! Why is the press ignoring this? Why do we have to get all the juicy news from the UK press?

I smell a major scandal if the Dems are only smart enough to exploit it!!!!!

I am assuming that you posted this in good fun, Mark and am laughing with, not at, you.

John Henry

LYNNDH said...

Stonewalling!! Teach them what stoning actually is. I guess I am getting much more militant about things. Just how can all these people that are thumbing their noses at Congress getting away with it? I just do not understand.

Michael K said...

"Flatworms lack nuance.

The best thing flatworms have going for them is that you can teach a flatworm to negotiate a maze, then cut it up and feed it to other flatworms, which will then know how to negotiate the same maze.

If only Democrats could do that.

Jael (Gone Windwalking) said...

Who is paying the NY Post?

William said...

Jefferson had a journalist in his employ whose job it was to spread scurrilous rumors about his political opponents. Jefferson and this journalist had an acrimonious argument about reimbursement, and the journalist left Jefferson's employ. This journalist then became the one who publicized Jefferson's relations with Sally Hemings. The mills of God grind slow but they grind exceedingly small.

Jael (Gone Windwalking) said...

"The mills of God grind slow ...."

"Thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges."

Marc in Eugene said...

Yes, JH, it is the innuendo that is striking, which innuendo of course is perfectly fine since the blackguard subject is Mr Trump. If someone were to notice Mr Corbyn's rental flat in Lower Chetwynde, Surrey in a similar tone, the G. would spend a full page proving that the infesting vermin had been humanely relocated, the drapes were chosen by Mrs Corbyn, and that it provides an after-tax income to the Miners' Widows and Orphans Fund.

William said...

Thie Post story is damning, but I wonder how much play it will get outside of conservative circles. The late night comedians will not make fun of the Dems for paying some defunct British spy to make up outlandish stories about Trump, and there will be no movies made about the comic blunders involved in these machinations. This will be another Dem scandal that will pass unnoticed and unremarked by the American public.

William said...

I just saw War Machine on Netflix. The movie is about the McChrystal scandal. Brad Pitt plays McChrystal as a cartoonish miles gloriusus. It's not a completely unsympathetic portrait, but the General and his staff are shown as being simple minded frat boys and having tunnel vision about their mission in Afghanistan. The Rolling Stone reporter who is the narrator of the movie, on the other hand, is sane and wise and hip to the futility of war and the American mission in Afghanistan..........You should remember that, in real life, the Rolling Stone reporter suffered from a bipolar disorder and killed himself racing his car around the streets at 4 am. What are the chances that Hollywood would ever make a movie about an asshole reporter who destroyed the reputation of a good man in order to advance his own agenda and career.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Months ago it was possible to find out who the FBI had contracted with to get the Steele dossier, and it was also possible, months ago, to discover the Fusion GPS was a Democrat opposition research outfit.
This is what the world of fake news looks like, libs, the MSM bending over backwards to tell you what you want to hear, and to hide from you those things you do not want to hear.

James K said...

Venona confirmed he was right but he had no proof while he was alive.

Just ahead of his time. The current shenanigans show that to start a multi-million dollar investigation, not only do you not need proof, you don't even need evidence.

Mr Wibble said...

Bernie and his wife have lawyered up. He's toast. Hopefully she's jailbait. OPM

Idiot millennials with Bernie tattoos hardest hit.

Night Owl said...

"That’s the trouble with Democrats. They’re smart in a hundred different, nuanced ways..."

And then he/she says:

"Idiots are in power! What more of a message do we need?"

The biggest problem for Democrats is that learning from their mistakes is not one of the hundred different nuanced ways in which they're smart. The first step is admitting that you made a mistake. To do that you have to be able to admit when you're wrong. That ability is in short supply among the radicalized bubble people on the NE and west coasts. They'll change the subject rather than admit they're wrong.

Unknown said...

Someone on Tweeter asked, "I still cant get over how one of stupidest, most entitled, least qualified people on planet became president of the US. Are we being punk'd?"

Nope. This is for real.

Unknown said...

Apparently, Trump didn't know what Flynn was doing. Or Kushner. Or Page. Or Manafort. Or Stone. Or Sessions. Or Gordon. Or anybody associated with Trump.

Funny dat.

James K said...

Someone on Tweeter asked, "I still cant get over how one of stupidest, most entitled, least qualified people on planet became president of the US. Are we being punk'd?"

Was that a tweet from 2009?

Scott said...

Hey "Unknown," could you post a link to the org that's paying you to post here? Your trolling is so lame that I could do a much better job. And you're obviously not burdened by having to believe the pap you post, so I wouldn't have to be, either. Linky linky please and thank you.

Bob Loblaw said...

That’s the trouble with Democrats. They’re smart in a hundred different, nuanced ways.

Hahahahahaha. The lies people tell themselves! "No, we don't keep screwing up because we're stupid. It's that we're smart in different ways."

Heywood Rice said...

Fusion GPS describes itself as a “research and strategic intelligence firm” founded by “three former Wall Street Journal investigative reporters.” But congressional sources says it’s actually an opposition-research group for Democrats, and the founders, who are more political activists than journalists, have a pro-Hillary, anti-Trump agenda.

“These weren’t mercenaries or hired guns,” a congressional source familiar with the dossier probe said. “These guys had a vested personal and ideological interest in smearing Trump and boosting Hillary’s chances of winning the White House.”

Anonymous sources and leakers!

Kevin said...

Bernie and his wife have lawyered up. He's toast. Hopefully she's jailbait.

I'm sure she'll lack intent or something and be let off. Just like Hillary's prosecution, the damage to the Dam brand would be too hard hit to convict her.

Kevin said...

Apparently, Trump didn't know what Flynn was doing. Or Kushner. Or Page. Or Manafort. Or Stone. Or Sessions. Or Gordon. Or anybody associated with Trump.

Apparently, Hillary didn't know what Huma was doing. Or Weiner. Or Podesta. Or Wasserman-Schultz. Or Brazile. Or Lynch. Or Bill Clinton. Or anybody associated with Hillary.

Drago said...

Unknown: "Someone on Tweeter..."

Lol

"Someone"

Well, that's certainly enough for "one in 100,000 stories" "lifelong republican" Chuck-endorsed CNN to run with it as "fact".

Humperdink said...

Unknown relayed the following: "I still cant get over how one of stupidest, most entitled, least qualified people on planet became president of the US."

And yet beat Hillary like a rented mule.

(This is my smiley face)

MayBee said...

If they will do this to a guy running for president, imagine what they would do to a lesser politician, or an average citizen.

Bob Loblaw said...

If they will do this to a guy running for president, imagine what they would do to a lesser politician, or an average citizen.

You could ask Joe the Plumber if your imagination isn't vivid enough.

Achilles said...

"Draw your own conclusions."

These swamp creatures have been accruing power and gaining wealth without consequences for decades. Not a single one has been held accountable. A flatworm will keep doing things until pain is applied. Fine.

What pain has been applied to these traitorous fucks?

The people who need to analyze their actions are the people who say they value liberty and justice and when the time comes buckle to nothing more than calls for "civility" and "decency" from people who obviously have none.

As it is now I see no reason for democrats/deep state to stop acting like shitheads. They have wealth, power, job security. They have their violent actors and they unleash them on their enemies.

What do "conservatives" do? "Conservatives" watch the country slide down the progressive slope. They think when they win elections and nothing changes that is good enough. They pretend getting a Bush or a Romney into office does something. Like flatworms.

Kevin said...

The people who need to analyze their actions are the people who say they value liberty and justice and when the time comes buckle to nothing more than calls for "civility" and "decency" from people who obviously have none.

Applause.

khesanh0802 said...

Ah, Sanders and wife are under FBI investigation! Sauce for the goose, etc. I am astounded that Inga did not draw our attention to Bernie's plight.

n.n said...

This is not Water Closet. This was chosen, conceived, and birthed from whole cloth (or big bang, stork, etc.).

It's no wonder they didn't discover any babies, only managed to expose witches, and aborted a few low-level warlocks in order to appease the democratic consensus.

Achilles said...

khesanh0802 said...
Ah, Sanders and wife are under FBI investigation! Sauce for the goose, etc. I am astounded that Inga did not draw our attention to Bernie's plight.

She lied on a loan application. Technically fraud but not the biggest deal the bank was stupid too.

Sanders is denying using his office and position as senator to influence the bank to make the loan. We will see.

This is not a big deal. The FBI/CIA/NSA collusion with the democrat party is a big deal. I am going to guess that the DNC is going to hang Bernie out to dry to give idiot republicans a scalp while the real shitheads skate.

Bernie is stupid and evil, but he is not the target we should be going after.

Heywood Rice said...

Bernie is stupid and evil, but he is not the target we should be going after.

Just who are we?

Michael K said...

"Just who are we?"

The Country Class.

When this majority discovered that virtually no one in a position of power in either party or with a national voice would take their objections seriously, that decisions about their money were being made in bipartisan backroom deals with interested parties, and that the laws on these matters were being voted by people who had not read them, the term “political class” came into use.

Heywood Rice said...

No prominent Republican challenged the ruling class’s continued claim of superior insight, nor its denigration of the American people as irritable children who must learn their place. The Republican Party did not disparage the ruling class, because most of its officials are or would like to be part of it.

It looks like the same old partisan bullshit to me.

Big Mike said...

Waterboard 'em.

Birkel said...

Achilles,

I do not disagree with your comment above that used my comment as a jumping off point. Personally, I do as much as I can given the constraints I have in my own life. You can sleep well tonight knowing I have not and will not bend to the will of Leftists. I give no quarter and expect less.

Politicians would be well served to recognize the animosity they inspire in reasonable comment sections like this one. Those who claim to represent conservatives but sell out at every opportunity are likely to be culled, electorally. I will work toward that end.

Yancey Ward said...

"Apparently, Hillary didn't know what Huma was doing. Or Weiner. Or Podesta. Or Wasserman-Schultz. Or Brazile. Or Lynch. Or Bill Clinton. Or Hillary. Or anybody associated with Hillary."

Fixed that for you.

Yancey Ward said...

Hey, at least Unknown's source is a guy on Twitter- more authentic than 99% of the sources cited by WaPo.

Heywood Rice said...

...decisions about their money were being made in bipartisan backroom deals with interested parties...

The current effort to "repeal and replace Obama care"?

Roy Lofquist said...

Michael K,

You have gone way too far this time. You want to cut up Democrats and put them in the stew? Just like they do with the flatworms? You know that's cannonballism don't you? It's actually illegal in some jurisdictions.

Heywood Rice said...

The American Spectator piece starts the clock at 2008 but they have a history that's well documented, providing a smoke screen of endless scandal while the ruling class passed the agenda both parties now want to run against.

The Arkansas Project was a series of investigative press reports, funded primarily by conservative businessman Richard Mellon Scaife, that focused on criticism of then-President Bill Clinton and his administration. Scaife spent nearly $2 million on the project.[1]

The investigations included the investigation of the 1970s' real estate investment that Bill and Hillary Clinton had made in a development known as Whitewater, re-opening of allegations that then Governor Bill Clinton had sexually harassed an Arkansas state employee, and a reexamination of the death of White House aide Vincent Foster which multiple official investigations had found to be a suicide.


wikipedia

Michael K said...

"cannonballism don't you? It's actually illegal in some jurisdictions."

That's why I moved to Arizona. One of my neighbors has an AR 15 with two 30 round clips.

My kind of neighborhood.

I haven't checked to see if it is full auto.

M Jordan said...

For well over a year now there is only one word that matters politically: Trump. He has dominated like no other. I thought Obama was everywhere but Trump makes Obama look like a dwarf running around Stonehenge.

Trump. What else do I have to say?

Be said...

Getting a little bit Meta here, sorry:

Disengaging from Most Social Media (aside from the non porno picture sharing sites) has been So Good for my mental health.

Of course, I can't be up to date on the global politicizing of whatever Mass Shooting occurs whereever in the world, but I do find myself feeling less like a crazy drunk bouncing from tab to tab / argument to argument. This is Good.

My usual question regarding such "investigations" and "studies" is generally, who funded?

Idem for the Polls (aside from looking at the sampling / methodology, if it's available).

rhhardin said...

It's really about how fickle women voters are.

Kevin said...

Meanwhile in the Democratic Party...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tells Chuck Todd that widespread Democratic loses are a sign that voters are pessimistic about both parties.

I guess that's a "nuanced" way of looking at it.

Gk1 said...

Its funny how quickly the peegate dossier disappeared into the fog once the details of how it came about, its inception on 4 Chan etc. this after it was proudly wafted around social media for weeks by credulous liberals. Now its all amnesia. I would like someone to ask that tool McCain if he still believes in it and if he should be allowed to operate an automobile on public streets.

Seeing Red said...


"If these results are not a clear manifestation of a failed political strategy, I don’t know what is." -- Bernie Sanders


Bernie's wife instituted her political strategy and it failed spectacularly. And used OPM cos it was gonna work this time!

Be said...

rhhardin: I heard a lot about that here in "Harvardlandia:" I was the reason for Trump being voted in, because I was Insufficiently Pro Hillary. Forget the fact that the folks (several - all Males, ranging in colors, too) had no access to my voting record. Strictly profiled by my being White and Female ... though I thought I might've gotten some good points on the fact that I don't wear makeup and could be described as 'a little bit dumpy.'

Achilles said...

"Those who claim to represent conservatives but sell out at every opportunity are likely to be culled, electorally. I will work toward that end."

That is just a recipe for a slightly slower decline. When you are in a fight with someone who observes no rules and has no limits to what they will do to win beating them electorally is not enough.

My last two deployments we won every battle. Nearly every mission was successful. Same with Iraq. But we got nowhere in the end because of a bunch of shitheads who wanted us to lose.

You all need to figure out the difference between beating opponents and defeating enemies.

Bob Loblaw said...

Its funny how quickly the peegate dossier disappeared into the fog once the details of how it came about, its inception on 4 Chan etc. this after it was proudly wafted around social media for weeks by credulous liberals. Now its all amnesia.

Oh no. There are people on this very forum promising a day of reckoning when the Truth Comes Out and it's all real. Any day now.

gadfly said...

The Economist tells us:

Opposition research is as old as politics itself—Cicero’s orations against Catiline, a dodgy candidate for the Roman consulship in 63BC, were notably well-informed.

When Bruce Braley, a little-known Iowa Democrat, dismissed Senator Charles Grassley as “a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school” (a description that fits a lot of Iowa voters), he may not have expected his remarks to be posted online. He should have. America Rising, a firm that conducts “opposition research” on behalf of Republicans, was delighted to disseminate his gaffe, since Mr Braley [was] running in Iowa for an open US Senate seat. The recording, made as Mr Braley was soliciting donations from trial lawyers, ... [effectively] hobbled his campaign.

The real question is why didn't the Dems hire George Soros' "oppo" firm, American Bridge 21st Century, which effectively destroyed the Romney campaign in 2012.

Gretchen said...

How much is the FBI budget????They pay half-assed political operatives to do thier work?? Comey should have had his ass canned for this alone.

I'll say it again, when the Democrats, especially Hillary started in with the "beware of fake news and Russia" I immediately knew they manufactured fake news about Russia.

tim in vermont said...

Where there is smoke there is fire

Reasons people! There are lots and lots of reasons! REASONS! That's what this is all about!

Drago said...

Best post of the thread:

James K: "Just ahead of his time. The current shenanigans show that to start a multi-million dollar investigation, not only do you not need proof, you don't even need evidence."

We now have a 4th amendment violating, open ended, unlimited budget, unlimited scope, zero probable cause fishing expedition by a case of hard left Hillary/Obama supporting lawyers whose entire investigation was premised on a Hillary/Obama lie pertaining to BS assertions from a hard left Dem oppo firm which generated a fake Russia "dossier" that has already been debunked all the while knowing that Obama/Hillary supporters violated intelligence sharing rules AND politicized our intelligence services.

This is something only Stalinists and "lifelong republicans" could support.

khesanh0802 said...

@ Achilles Thanks for your service. I don't think the Bernie thing is a big deal except, as you point out, it makes him a candidate for being "hung out to dry". Shouldn't we be waiting for Fauxahontas to descend on Bernie for his misuse of the banking system? That would be sweet!

I agree on the FBI etc. needing a good colonoscopy. Lynch looks like she will be the first batter, but I thought Grassley was going to have Comey testify as well. Grassley does not think much of Comey's performance so that could be an interesting session.

Qwinn said...

"Where there is smoke there is fire"

...they said, while blowing artificial smoke around everywhere they go.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"That last one worked - notwithstanding calls for a Special Counsel to investigate the Special Counsel over his ties to the FBI Director who wanted the Special Counsel. This is a very Washington creature-feature: the Blob feasts on nothing. So at the Deep State dinner theatre Mr Mueller is now casting an army of extras. With the usual money-no-object lavishness of the world's premier five-star swamp, the Special Counsel has appointed, to date, 14 lawyers to his "investigation", "with more still to come". In a fascinating column, my old colleague Andrew McCarthy puts this prosecutorial football squad in perspective:"

https://www.steynonline.com/7937/fifteen-lawyers-in-search-of-a-crime

Zero, absolute term-wise, Republicans of any iota of a bent, could ever disagree with NRO's McCarthy in his expert fielding of issues relating to his expertise, right everyone whose name starts with a C?