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Three Things: Day After Night Before Day of Disaster [UPDATE-2]

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Rayne
What a flaming mess. Bet you can't really tell which mess I'm referring to -- the Iowa caucuses, the State of the Union Address, or the rolling not-trial of Donald J. Trump.
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Manafort's Efforts to Insinuate Himself into Trump's Campaign Earlier Than Previously Known

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emptywheel
Paul Manafort started asking Trump for a job in January, not March, 2016.
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"Project Rasputin:" The Michael Caputo Interview

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emptywheel
Somewhere in the 24 paragraphs of Michael Caputo's 302 that remain redacted because of an ongoing investigation, he must explain a "Project Rasputin."
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The Israeli Focus and Others' Criminality at the Beginning of Mike Flynn's "Cooperation"

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emptywheel
We still don't know why Mike Flynn lied about Jared Kushner's efforts to undercut Obama policy on Israel. Given how his "peace" "plan" was rolled out last week and ongoing DOJ efforts to hide his role in the investigation, we should know that.
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From Flickr, Creative Commons License

Subject, Quasi-Object, Object

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Ed Walker
An introduction to some of the central terms used by Bruno Latour.
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Steve Bannon's Grand Jury Secrets

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emptywheel
Twice during his testimony in Roger Stone's trial, Steve Bannon had to be forced to adhere to the testimony he gave under oath to the grand jury.
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Methinks Joshua Schulte Doth Protest Too Much over Anonymous

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emptywheel
Amid a provocative discussion about how much of expert witness Paul Rosenzweig's Powerpoint presentation can be used at the Joshua Schulte trial, his lawyers again launched an objection to mentioning Anonymous that seems totally out of proportion to the damage that such mentions might do at trial.
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Mike Flynn Seizes the Rope to Hang Himself With: Pick Your Perjury

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emptywheel
Even if Bill Barr orders his subordinates to take a fall on their response to Mike Flynn's motion to withdraw his guilty plea, nothing can change the fact that Mike Flynn has already made statements under oath that conflict.
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Hitting the Oscillator: Today's Senate Vote on Witnesses [UPDATE-5]

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Rayne
The output hits the fan today as the Senate votes on whether to call and hear witnesses. But this may also be the entire enchilada shoved into the blades of the rotator -- they may vote on conviction and acquittal. This is an open thread.
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The Manafort Link Sets the Fruman-Parnas Timeline Back -- But the Manafort Timeline Is Earlier Too

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emptywheel
The Paul Manafort story goes back to before the time he needed to invent a story to justify a pardon.
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Mike Flynn Seizes the Rope to Hang Himself With: Flynn's Motion to Dismiss Carter Page's Non-Existent Plea

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emptywheel
In addition to moving to withdraw his plea, Mike Flynn also moved to have it dismissed, based largely off of claims about injuries to Carter Page.
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Pat Cipollone Believes the Golden Rule Is for Chumps

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emptywheel
Among the alarming answers from the President's lawyers last night, Pat Philbin said it was okay for the President to accept dirt from a foreign country, and Alan Dershowitz argued it was okay for the President to incapacitate Democratic voters if he believes his reelection is best for the country.
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Mike Flynn Seizes the Rope to Hang Himself With: Probation for Petraeus

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emptywheel
I predict the three memos submitted in Mike Flynn's sentencing today will fulfill a prediction his former lawyer, Rob Kelner made, if Mike Flynn ever pulled such a funny trick. It amounts to Mike Flynn grasping the rope to hang himself with.
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SDNY Prosecutors Protect Trump's Privacy to Enter into a Joint Defense Agreement with the Russian Mob

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emptywheel
A privilege battle has erupted in the Ukrainian Grifter's case, with Lev Parnas trying to release more damning information on Trump and Rudy and SDNY putting up Igor Fruman to object, both in his own interest, and for the interest of those he's in a Joint Defense Agreement.
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John Lewis Was Not Always Old

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Peterr
John Lewis has been a fighter his whole life long. He is the last living member of the Big Six, the speakers at the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights, and now is a senior member of Congress fighting pancreatic cancer. But it's important to remember that John Lewis was not always old.
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Joshua Schulte Wanted to Include Instructions to Contact WikiLeaks in a Pro Se Motion

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emptywheel
In a last ditch effort to exclude information from Joshua Schulte's notebooks from his trial that starts next week, his lawyers provide evidence he was trying to leak classified information in pro se motions.
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The Whack-a-Mole Cover Story: Bill Barr's Knowing Complicity Moved a Month Earlier

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emptywheel
We have known since Mick Mulvaney's presser that there was a tie between Trump's demands for dirt from Ukraine and the John Durham investigation. But John Bolton's story moves the date when Bill Barr should have known that a month earlier.
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Charles Cooper's Letter about Pre-Publication Review Discounts Any Executive Privilege Claims

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emptywheel
In December, Bolton lawyer Charles Cooper made an argument that will make it harder for his client to avoid testifying, anywhere, going forward.
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