monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

It's interesting to read the response of the major Trumpians here when Trump doesn't act as they thought he would. [That's one of the main reasons not to put anyone on ignore.]

(Bloomberg) -- Special Counsel Robert Mueller is moving at a far faster pace than previously known and appears to be wrapping up at least one key part of his investigation -- whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Mueller has quietly moved closer to those around Trump by interviewing Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former FBI Director James Comey in recent weeks, officials said. His team has also interviewed CIA Director Mike Pompeo, NBC News reported.

Those high-level officials all have some degree of knowledge about events surrounding Trump’s decisions to fire Comey and Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser.

“Clearly the names that are coming out now indicate that we’re into the obstruction of justice side of it,” said Stanley Twardy, a former U.S. attorney for Connecticut who’s now a white-collar criminal defense lawyer at the law firm Day Pitney LLP. “He’s now getting people who are closest to the president, closest to the issues.”

Looking Forward’

Next, Mueller is expected to schedule an interview with Trump in coming weeks to discuss those events, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Trump said of a meeting with Mueller, which he suggested may happen in about two to three weeks. He told reporters at the White House Wednesday that “I would love to do it” and “I would do it under oath” even though his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton wasn’t sworn in when she was interviewed in 2016 over her use of private emails as secretary of state.

Even if Mueller wraps up the obstruction probe, other elements of his investigation -- such as whether Trump or anyone close to him helped Russia interfere in the 2016 presidential election or broke any other laws -- are likely to continue for months more, said two officials who asked to remain anonymous speaking about the probe.

“There’s no collusion whatsoever,” Trump said in his comments to reporters. “There’s been no obstruction whatsoever.” Later Wednesday, White House lawyer Ty Cobb said the arrangements for any interview were still being worked out.

‘Hubris Involved’

Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor, said “it’s fair to say Mueller’s moving expeditiously.” He said “interviewing this president on these wide-ranging issues is a prosecutor’s dream.”

“There are several data points out there that point to a viable obstruction of justice charge against the president,” said Cramer, who’s now managing director of consulting firm Berkeley Research Group LLC. “The interesting thing is you have hubris involved here. This is not a normal president.”

Trump’s lawyers have said there was no obstruction of justice in the firing of Comey because the president has the right to fire his FBI director and was simply executing his constitutional authority.

The lawyers have been talking with Mueller and his aides about an interview. The lawyers met last month with the special prosecutor’s team and have been speaking by phone as part of a continuing exchange over logistics that could take several weeks.

A QuickTake Q&A: Your Guide to Understanding the Trump-Russia Saga

The main topics of an interview would be Trump’s removal of Flynn last February and his firing of Comey in March, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Sessions was involved in Trump’s decision to fire Comey and attended a key meeting in the Oval Office in February 2017. It was there, Comey told lawmakers last year, that Trump told Sessions and others to leave the room and then asked Comey to ease up on investigating Flynn.

Mueller also has been investigating an attempt by Trump to pressure Coats and Rogers last year to get the FBI to back off of probing into Flynn, the two U.S. officials said. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators and has become a cooperating witness in Mueller’s probe.

On Tuesday, Trump also told reporters that he doesn’t remember asking then-FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe whom he voted for in the 2016 presidential election shortly after Comey was fired. The Washington Post reported that the conversation with McCabe is of interest to Mueller.

Mueller was appointed in May and, to date, has indicted Trump’s former campaign chairman and another campaign aide, as well as secured guilty pleas from Flynn and another former Trump adviser.

Even if evidence supports an obstruction of justice charge against Trump, however, it’s far from clear whether Mueller would bring a criminal case on those grounds. No sitting president has ever faced such a charge and it’s unknown if a case could proceed legally.

Trump’s lawyers have said there was no obstruction of justice in the firing of Comey because the president has the right to fire his FBI director and was simply executing his constitutional authority.

Pope Francis
‏Verified account
@Pontifex
Jan 24
There is no such thing as harmless disinformation; trusting in falsehood can have dire consequences.

Republicans go full Illuminati

At the beginning of Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders spent a mere three seconds acknowledging the victims of America’s latest deadly school shooting — one at Marshall County High School in Kentucky that left two students dead.

But NBC’s Peter Alexander circled back to the topic during the last question Sanders fielded. Alexander asked Sanders what President Donald Trump is doing to prevent school shootings, especially considering the fact that there have already been 11 school shootings so far this year and we’re not even through with January.

“On Tuesday, there was a high school in Kentucky; Monday a school cafeteria outside Dallas; a charter school parking lot in New Orleans as well — there have been 11 shootings in schools in the first 23 days of this year,” Alexander began. “In October, after the Vegas shooting, you said it was an unspeakable tragedy from that podium. You said it was a day for consoling survivors and mourning those we have lost, but you said there’s a time and place for political debate. What has the president done in the time since October to prevent any of these shootings from taking place?"*

Sanders quickly tried to pivot from Alexander’s question. Instead, she attempted to give the president credit for the slight decrease in U.S. violent crime that occurred during his first months in office.

“The president believes that all Americans deserve to be safe in their schools and their communities,” she said. “We’ve had two years of increased violence prior to the president taking office. We’ve tried to crack down on crime throughout the country.”

Sanders’ response didn’t address gun violence in schools at all. When Alexander tried to follow up, Sanders grew impatient and attacked him.

“The fact that you’re basically accusing the president of being complicit in a school shooting is outrageous,” she said.

As Alexander noted, there was a good deal of hypocrisy in Sanders’ attack against him. Her objection to a reporter allegedly “accusing the president of being complicit in a school shooting” comes just days after the Trump campaign released an ad accusing Democrats that stand in Trump’s way of building a wall along the southern border of being “complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants.”

Ignoring the fact that the safety and security of our borders is very different.

The president has been very clear...

...and instructed the top law enforcement agency in this country to crack down on crime, and to do everything they can to prevent these types of things. We've talked about it here numerous times, and we're gonna continue moving forward in that process

Trump didn't fire Comey to end that investigation, and certainly never said he did it for that reason (which itself would still be a valid exercise of presidential power, even if he did).

The New York Times reported that Trump called ousted FBI Director Comey “crazy” and “a real nut job” during a May meeting with Russian officials at the White House – and said firing the top cop had relieved “great pressure” on him.

“I just fired the head of the FBI,” Trump, according to a document read to the Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

The comments, allegedly made one day after Trump abruptly fired Comey, could fuel allegations Trump got rid of him because of the investigation into possible collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

Trump didn't fire Comey to end that investigation,

CNN)President Donald Trump has said he was thinking of "this Russia thing" when he decided to fire FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading the bureau's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election

Turkey urged the United States on Thursday to halt its support for Kurdish YPG fighters or risk confronting Turkish forces on the ground in Syria, some of Ankara’s strongest comments yet about a potential clash with its NATO ally.
[...]
“Those who support the terrorist organization will become a target in this battle,” Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said.

“The United States needs to review its solders and elements giving support to terrorists on the ground in such a way as to avoid a confrontation with Turkey,” Bozdag, who also acts as the government’s spokesman, told broadcaster A Haber.
[...]
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Erdogan on Wednesday to curtail the military operation in Syria, the White House said.

However Turkey has disputed that characterization of the conversation.

“President Trump did not share any ‘concerns about escalating violence’ with regard to the ongoing military operation in Afrin,” a Turkish official said.

“The two leaders’ discussion of Operation Olive Branch was limited to an exchange of views,” the official said.

Mining cryptocurrencies is far too energy intensive and is consuming as much electricity as a G-20 economy, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.

“The Bitcoins mining, which is this accelerated and augmented use of computers to actually determine the value and incentive the functioning of the mechanism, is energy angry,” Lagarde said in Bloomberg TV interview with Francine Lacqua and Tom Keene at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “And we figure that in 2018 if it continues that system will actually consume as much electricity as Argentina.”

The electricity needed by the global network of computers running the blockchain technology behind Bitcoin has more than tripled in the last year to more than 37 gigawatt-hours a day, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That’s equivalent to about 30 1.2-gigawatt nuclear reactors running at full capacity.

While higher prices have spurred more mining, it’s impossible to know where the market is headed, according to BNEF analyst Isabelle Edwards. If prices remain high, energy consumption will do the same. But the amount of electricity needed to mine Bitcoins could fall if there are improvements in computing technology.

“In times of climate change and when we look at how much coal is being used in some Chinese provinces to actually mine Bitcoin it’s a big concern,” Lagarde said.

I wish the Kurds will make Turkey pay a very big price for that invasion. I also wish somebody with planes (Trump, Macron or Putin, I don't really care who does it) will bomb the mezze out of their invading army.