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Pretty sure Trump just called Polandâs President Andrzej Duda âPresident Dudeâ as he read a statement before joint news conference with the Polish president at the White House. Reading was stiff, little ad-libbing. Seems tired +/ uninterested. Focus on energy security in Europe. 
Trump gives the first question at news conference with Polish President Duda to fake news conspiracy theory site âOne America News Networkâ asking about war and Syria. Trump goes off on big âunfairâ costs of NATO, says US will get âbillions and billionsâ to defend Poland.
Trump calls on FoxNews reporter who asks, Why not have the FBI investigate the Kavanaugh sexual assault allegation? Trump repeats what he said earlier, the FBI really doesnât do that kind of thing. Then goes off on âobstructionistâ Democrats, sounding like âJudge Jeannineâ on Fox
Trump is releasing sensitive FISA classified information "without redaction" to try to undermine the Russia investigation. This isn't a man doing his duty to defend US national security. But it's a nifty distraction from #Kavanaugh debacle, esp for FoxNews propaganda programming
Look, anyone who knew anything about how Russian influence ops work recognized that the Trump campaign was likely compromised. The FBI would have been derelict in its duty to protect US national security if they DIDN'T open an investigation. Page, Manafort were known quantities.
So much for "anonymous" saving us from national security nightmare Trump. The guy under investigation is bent on derailing the investigation. Now he's overruled intelligence & law enforcement experts to declassify FISA docsđ. This isn't Trump being dumb. It's Trump covering up.
Trump: #Kavanaughâs never had even a little blemish. I have great faith in the Senate and their process. If it [confirmation] has to be delayed a little, then it will be. Feinstein had this information and didnât bring it up. It shouldâve been brought up a long time ago. #SCOTUS
GOP @SenatorCollins: #Kavanaugh was emphatic in denying sexual assault allegations. Obviously if he lied about it, it would be disqualifying.
âDisqualifyingââSusan Collins is the first Senate Republican to say the word out loud: âObviously if Judge Kavanaugh has lied about what happened, that would be disqualifying.â He should obviously withdraw, but thatâs a precedent Trump might have to follow
coffee ($5) or help for the 
server cost ($10):
.@nikkihaley called today's urgent UN Security Council meeting on North Korea. She slammed #Russia for helping #NorthKorea violate sanctions AND for pressuring UN experts to alter an independent report implicating Russian actors in NK sanctions violations. nbcnews.com/news/world/u-sâŚ
TASS reports UN Ambassador Nikki Haley also accused Russia of facilitating the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam by supplying North Korea with the nerve agent ("biological substances")
Mistranslation or disinformation from TASS?? Even Sputnik isn't reporting @NikkiHaley accusing Russia of 'facilitating' Kim Jong-nam assassination. Sputnik quotes her slamming Russia for blocking stronger North Korea sanctions on chemical & biological substances after the murder.
#BREAKING: California professor, writer of confidential Brett #Kavanaugh letter, speaks out about allegation of traumatic sexual assault. âI thought he might inadvertently kill me,â she describes how he forced himself on her, pinned her, shut her mouth washingtonpost.com/investigationsâŚ
Anita Hill's sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas was ignored. Now we're at a new low. Republicans want to rush through a SCOTUS nominee credibly accused of attempted rapeâŚto gut a woman's right to abortion. We are not free if we can't make decisions about our bodies. #Kavanaugh
I'd like to say, couldn't the Republicans find someone better than Brett Kavanaugh for SCOTUS?? Then again, look who they nominated for POTUS. If Collins & Murkowski vote to confirm a credibly accused rapist, GOP moral decay is irreversible. And unforgivable in November & beyond.
#Manafort charging document for today's guilty plea includes details of his planting disinformation in US press to smear political rivals of his pro-Russia clients in Ukraine. Eg "Plant some stink on Tymo"âpainting a female rival as a criminal who paid for murder. Sound familiar?
Manafort had used the same propaganda smear tactics in Ukraine that Trump rolled out in his campaign for president in 2016. Manafort not only had Tymo soliciting murder. He pushed tribal divisions, using "Obama Jews" & anti-Semitism to tarnish her. assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4883âŚ
#Manafort manipulated the media with disinformation and then used those planted news stories to manipulate US govt: "I have someone pushing it on the NY Post. Bada bing bada boomâŚThe Jewish community will take this out on Obama on election day if he does nothing.â
OMG Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov has been hospitalized in grave condition for suspected poisoning. Ekho Moskvy & Meduza report heâs been in emergency care since Tuesday. Heâs lost his eyesight and ability to speak. #Russia
apne.ws/LvfLzd5
apne.ws/LvfLzd5
THIS is #Russia: Artist/activist Pyotr Verzilov is in critical condition in suspected poisoning. He became ill after a court hearing over protests on Sunday. He recently served jailtime for running onto the World Cup field along w/ other Pussy Riot members.meduza.io/en/feature/201âŚ
Not sure Verzilov made it to the pension protests. Police arrested him leaving his home after he gathered docs to help 2 other arrested PussyRiot members. He managed to get off a sarcastic tweet, that the cops would help him get to the jail quicker. He's now fighting for his life
NEW: Trump admin to target foreign election interference with Executive Order imposing sanctions. Trump may sign new EO as soon as tomorrow, to preempt congressional push for new legislative sanctions on Russia.
reuters.com/article/us-usaâŚ
reuters.com/article/us-usaâŚ
Sanctions by Executive Order may just be official âTrump is tough on Russiaâ propaganda. Problem is they want to preempt coming âSanctions from Hell.â Also itâs not clear what the EO sanctions will entail, so likely they wonât be as hard-hittingâor effectiveâas a bipartisan law.
Quick, sharp & bipartisan criticism: Trumpâs Election Security Executive Order ârecognizes the threat, but does not go far enough to address it. US can and must do more.â
This should mean Congress will enact sanctions. But this GOP might prefer a little help in November first đ
This should mean Congress will enact sanctions. But this GOP might prefer a little help in November first đ
Russia is main suspect in mystery attacks on U.S. diplomats in Cuba nbcnews.com/news/latin-ame⌠via @NBCNews
Terrifying read on 9/11. US now calls Cuba embassy mystery that caused brain damage to 26 US personnel intentional âattacksââlikely by #Russia. If so, more stunning Russian aggression to add to the recent use of military-grade #Novichok nerve agent on #Skripal in #Salisbury UK.
>> GOP Senator Cory Gardner Introduces Legislation Designating Russia "State Sponsor of Terror" After Reports on Sonic Attacks. Also renews call for vote on Russia sanctions bill. rollcall.com/news/politics/⌠via @nielslesniewski h/t @InvestigateRU
Russian hitmen are literally killing people who threaten criminal Kremlin networks. Yet Trump and GOP are bent on bringing down people whose life's work is protecting Americans from Russian organized crime. Bruce Ohr witch hunt sure looks like somebody's protecting the criminals
Illicit financial dealingsâmoney launderingâbetween Trumpâs business and Russia is the scandal that explains targeting of obscure bureaucrats like Ohr. Just coincidence Trump is purging DOJ experts on Russia, organized crime and money laundering?? nytimes.com/2018/09/09/opi⌠#maddow
#Salisbury was a wake-up call about the risks corrupt money brings with it. UK confirms 700+ wealthy Russians among those facing visa crackdown after #Novichok attacks. theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/s⌠#Skripal #Russia #corruption
September 9 #Russia: Protests in 85 cities today against law raising retirement age. First rallies (& arrests) in Far East, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk. Signs: "I Want to Live to See My Pension" "It's Not Reform; It's Robbery" "Stop lying"
Livestream @Navalny
Livestream @Navalny
@navalny Putin raised Russia's pension age b/c warsâin Syria, Ukraine, on democracyâand corruption are costly. He tries silencing opposition, arresting their leaders, beating supporters. Russians persist. They protest bc they believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everythingâ
@navalny More photos from today's #protests in #Russia against Kremlin pension reform plan to raise the retirement age, via @novaya_gazeta. Among the great signs: "Putin, when are you going to retire?" novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/âŚ
#BREAKING: George #Papadopoulos sentenced to 14 days in prison, one year supervision, 200 hours of community service, $9500 fine for lying to FBI about contacts with Russia in #Mueller investigation.
Reminder: Convicted former Trump campaign adviser Papadopoulos said in sentencing motion that both Sessions and Trump were enthusiastic about his contacts with Russia, contradicting Sessions' sworn testimony to Congress and public statements by Trump cnn.com/2018/09/01/polâŚ
#Papadopoulos lawyer: The President of the United States hindered the Mueller investigation more than Papadopoulos ever could, by calling the Russia probe âfake newsâ and a âwitch huntââin Jan 2017âbefore Papâs FBI interview; George was âunsophisticated,â ânaiveâ and a âfoolâ
.@BarackObama at University of Illinois kicks off midterm campaign for Democrats and Americaâs future: Democracy should have no permanent ruling class. Citizens determine our course & our character. This moment is different. Consequences of sitting on the sidelines are dire. VOTE
Obama: Trumpâs the symptom not the cause. Each time we pull ourselves closer to our ideals, of inalienable rights & responsibilities, the status quo pushes back. Sometimes the backlash is genuine. More often itâs manufactured by those who use fear to keep their power & privilege.
Obama schools students on the roots of todayâs divisions & inequality: The politics of fearâpitting one group against anotherâis an old playbook. In a healthy democracy, it doesnât work. When thereâs a vacuumâwe donât vote, take our basic rights for granted, demagogues take hold.
đ¨PUTIN âFRIENDâ HAD OUTLINE OF TRUMPâS INFAMOUS PRO-RUSSIA SPEECH. So Trumpâs consistent pro-Kremlin foreign policy agenda was literally coordinated with and written by Kremlin proxies?? Thatâs not just amoral⌠thedailybeast.com/putins-friend-⌠via @woodruffbets @thedailybeast
Significant changes were made to the speechâs detailed outline after Putin pal Dimitri Simes saw itâincluding removing lines disparaging Russia, condemning bigotry, praising legal immigration. Last 2 are notable as they were the precise themes exploited in Kremlin troll operation
Trumpâs speech included one more âUS Weaknessâ bullet pointâafter apparent input by pro-Russia think tank: âOur allies are not paying their fair share.â Simes making that line more prominent is consistent w/ top Kremlin goal of creating wedge issues to divide NATO and weaken US.
Whoa: Someone inside Trump Admin wrote an anonymous op-ed saying insiders are thwarting him: âI Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration. We work for the president but we have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinationsâ nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opiâŚ
Senior Trump official: "Our duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic. [We] vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutionsâŚ[He's] amoral, impetuous, adversarial, petty, ineffective."
Exasperated Trump admin officials admit their daily disbelief at Trumpâs comments and actions. âMost are working to insulate their operations from his whims.â This @nytimes op-ed confirms the Woodward bookâs remarkable details of Trumpâs unfitness & danger to the country.
THREAD from #Kavanaugh confirmation hearing Day1. Day2 begins. GOP chair Grassley said yesterdayâs protesters plotted w/ Democrats to disrupt hearing. âToday is different,â he said. Protests continued. One said: âIâm offended; I called out Durbin. I didnât coorindate w/Democratsâ
Feinstein starts questions on gun regulation & âcommon use.â She said she never thought sheâd see children mowed down in schools. #Kavanaugh: âItâs all about precedent. If a type of firearm is widely owned like assault weapons, then itâs unconstitutional to ban them under Hellerâ
Feinstein asks about Roe: I donât want to go back to those numbers [women dying in back alley abortions]. #Kavanaugh: I donât live in a bubble. I understand its importance. As a judge, Roe & Casey are long-standing Supreme Court precedent. (Implying it should stand, it seems.)
Meanwhile âCrazytownâ WH per new Woodward book: After a mock Mueller interview in which Trump stumbled, contradicted himself and lied about the Russia investigation, Trump lost it and started ranting âThis thingâs a goddamn hoax. I donât want to testifyâ washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-wâŚ
đ¤Chyrons on Woodwardâs bombshell book FEAR on the nervous breakdown of Trumpâs presidency
Trump lawyer told him: Donât testify. Itâs either that or an orange jumpsuit
Trump lawyer worried Mueller interview would expose Trump as an idiot
Mattis compares Trump to 5th/6th grader
Trump lawyer told him: Donât testify. Itâs either that or an orange jumpsuit
Trump lawyer worried Mueller interview would expose Trump as an idiot
Mattis compares Trump to 5th/6th grader
đĽ From Bob Woodwardâs new book: Current and former WH staffers, officials & lawyers describe Trump as an âidiot,â âunhinged,â âliar,â âmoron,â âerotic,â âincapable of telling the truth,â âoff the rails,â âhas the understanding of a 5th or 6th graderâ⌠w/ and w/o expletives.
đĽDemocrats ask GOP Judiciary Chair Grassley to adjourn Kavanaugh hearing over withheld documents. Blumenthal asks for vote on motion. Booker appeals to decency. Feinstein discusses context of Trump admin corruption. Grassley denies motion as out of order. It is not. GOP=Thieves.
Leahy: Iâve been in the Senate for 19 Supreme Court nominations from Repubs & Democrats. Whatâs being done here is unprecedented. Iâm just sorry to see the Senate Judiciary Cmte descend this way.
đGOP Cornyn: This is mob rule.
Blumenthal: We simply ask for regular order.
đGOP Cornyn: This is mob rule.
Blumenthal: We simply ask for regular order.
One after another Democrat raises issue after issue on how rushed, hidden & unprecedented Kavanaugh process is. Chair Grassley reads responses, prepared in advance for the many objections. He knows full well how out of order his process is. Repubs are used to stealing & cheating.
Trump doesnât even hide his corruption or his abdication of his oath to uphold US laws. Heâs now criticizing Attorney Gen Sessions for criminal DOJ indictments of Republican congressmenâCollins accused of insider trading & Hunter of badly misusing campaign funds for personal use.
GOP won't control Congress for long bc they prove daily they're OK w/Trump's insane corruption. Thx to their own decades-long rigging democracy toward wealth & toxic "conservative" media, they created this dumpster fire. If they can let America burn, no telling how low they'll go
I wrote this in 2016. Trump's Orwellian propaganda language, his attacks on truth, GOP enablers, divisive toxic conservative media, Russia's long-term information warfare a la KGB Bezmenovâall much greater threats to our democracy today with GOP in power. eastwestblog.net/2016/10/24/truâŚ
Who thought up this brilliant idea? Official White House coins commemorating the disgraceful summit when Trump stood next to Putin & sided with his lie that Russia hadn't attack our electionâdays after Mueller indictment detailed how Russian govt GRU agents attacked our election.
So the "Kremlin Summit In Helsinki" coin is #5 in a series to "Chronicle in Coin and Ornamental Art the
Entire Presidency of President Donald J. Trump in World Historic Acts of Leadership." It's disgraceful AND there's a mess of errors on website. Like a Russian troll wrote itđ
Entire Presidency of President Donald J. Trump in World Historic Acts of Leadership." It's disgraceful AND there's a mess of errors on website. Like a Russian troll wrote itđ
And why is the White House calling the coin called "Kremlin Summit in Helsinki"?? Did Putin name it or something??
There's always more >> Accused spy Maria #Butina turned on her Russian charm to secure Russian jet fuel deal with David Keene, NRA president & prominent leader of the conservative movement, his lobbyist wife, & her boyfriend Erickson â The New York Times nytimes.com/2018/09/02/us/âŚ
THREAD on sloppy NYT piece on #Butina. See @john_sipher who says she's not a professional spy but an 'access agent teeing up fools for Russia to compromise.' She develops access & provides targeting information to the professionals, so they know who's vulnerable, who to go after.
@john_sipher There are spies and there are spies. Russia has a dizzying array of intelligence agents, special services & proxies, formal professionals & informal agents like Maria #Butina. @KirkseniyaSF reviews some of the nuances in @KyivPost kyivpost.com/article/opinio⌠cc @SethAbramson @nytimes
ICYMI GOP swamp lawyer helps Trump assert another 1st in executive power to push Supreme Court nominee: White House claims executive privilege on 100,000 #Kavanaugh records, after letter by Bill Burckâlawyer for McGahn, Bannon, Priebus, GeorgeW Bush, FIFA sacbee.com/news/politics-âŚ
Democrats denounce "triply-conflicted" Burck, whose unprecedented arrangement to expedite #Kavanaugh records for Senate SCOTUS confirmation hearings includes claiming executive privilege on 100K pp. He's Kavanaugh's friend, Bush WH lawyer, defends Trump officials in Russia probe.
Days before GOP-rushed Supreme Court nominee's confirmation hearings, Trump admin decides to withhold thousands of records from Brett #Kavanaugh's time as Bush WH lawyer. Lawyer defending Trump officials in Muellerâs Russia probe cites executive privilege. nyti.ms/2Caj0s4
.@realDonaldTrump is such a disgrace to what America stands for, John McCain banned him from his funeral. Everyoneâs thereâPresidents Obama, Bush, Clintonânow at the National Catherdral to honor a great American. Trump? In his safe placeâwatching FoxNews and tweeting propaganda.
John McCain's pallbearers â including Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, Democrat Russ Feingold, former VP Joe Biden, actor Warren Beatty, former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, William Cohenâstand in attendance at the late senator's memorial service at National Catherdral in DC
Meghan McCain went there, fiercely: âWe gather here to mourn the passing of American greatnessâthe real thingânot cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willinglyâŚnor opportunistic appropriation by those who lived lives of comfort and privilege
Another one: Russia-backed Separatist Leader Zakharchenko Killed in Bombing in Donetsk Cafe - Bloomberg bloomberg.com/news/articles/âŚ
Being supported by the Kremlin is actually a bad thingâNOT a good thing. Assassinated Donetsk leader Alexander Zakharchenko joins 13 other Russia-backed militants murdered in occupied Ukraine. @EuromaidanPress has a handy infographic and details here đeuromaidanpress.com/2017/03/15/mysâŚ
#Russia is already using #Zakharchenko assassination to undermine Minsk peace process, blaming #Ukraine, of course. Notice Rand Paul's new Russian Duma pal Kosachev said Zakharcheno death "could have a particularly negative impact on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements."
