US Politics, January 2020. Because we hate ourselves.

Anthony Scaramucci, who served as Trump’s communications director for just 11 days, recounts the president’s response when he asks him, “Are your methods unsound?”

“I don't have any methods,” Trump replies, according to Scaramucci.

Anthony Scaramucci, who served as Trump’s communications director for just 11 days, recounts the president’s response when he advises him, "Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up."

"But Anthony...I am Pagliacci," Trump replies, according to Scaramucci.

It was kind of funny when Trump was talking about how he wasn’t going to talk about refrigerators and toilets in the State of the Union because it wouldn’t be elegant

he'll have to hold it in, just like every person there. or maybe not, in his case.

Parnas apparently naming names and burning bridges on Maddow, right now.

Oh, goody!

His confessions have been pretty clear-eyed. Implicating Trump directly.

Lev Parnas to @maddow "Why would President Zelensky’s inner circle, or Minister Avakov, or all these people, or President Poroshenko, meet with me? Who am I? They were told to meet with me. And that's the secret that they're trying to keep. I was on the ground doing their work.”

— Anne Rumsey Gearan (@agearan) January 16, 2020

Parnas says Giuliani told Ukrainian officials that Parnas was a representative of Trump and was acting on his behalf. Parnas says he would call Giuliani, put him on speakerphone, and Giuliani would confirm as Trump’s personal lawyer that Parnas was representing Trump.@maddow

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) January 16, 2020

A good thing he won't be subpoenaed by the Senate and make his statements under oath, because that might be embarrassing to the Republicans when they all vote to acquit and we wouldn't want that.

If this was so important, then why didn't it come out earlier? Hmm!?!

Must be the work of George Soros. Or maybe Nancy Pelosi. Or both in cahoots with each other and possibly the Clintons.

This interview is jaw dropping

Too bad it’s being overshadowed by bullshit Warren/Bernie drama

Dude just described the Trump hotel as a "breeding ground" for shady people.

Parnas is one well-spoken thug, more lucid than many of these weirdos. I was expecting, like, a Rocky & Bullwinkle villain.

Hardest hit: moose and sqvirrel

Dude just described the Trump hotel as a "breeding ground" for shady people.

― Josh in Chicago,

Well, the rooms have bedbugs, you pay $21 for a martini, and the cushions are pink

Would be awesome if everyone from Trump on down broke out in the same kind of rash.

In their Buttholez

Lev Parnas has the Attorney General involved up to his eyeballs in this shit

https://am22.akamaized.net/tms/cnt/uploads/2019/04/thats-impossible-luke-star-wars.jpg

yikes

dangling exoneration for Dmitri Firtash to discredit the Mueller report coming out of his own department

straight takedown of Devin Nunes, implicating him on a micro level in Yavonovich removal

Is it to late to add Lev Parnas to the 2020 deadpool?

Maybe he's hoping to finally get his own Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Parnas_and_Igor_Fruman

lol

This Maddow episode is nuts.

How long til Rudy flips?

hopefully when his car hits an embankment

Rudy can't afford to flip. He's in too deep. He must stick with Donald to the end and hope to dodge most of the bullets he's a ripe target for, and a pardon falls out of it somehow in the end.

Dude on after Maddow asked why he was talking, and she said he basically said his head is full of all sorts of information, and that if it stays there it's really easy to "make it go away" or something, so better to get it out when he can.

On the other head, he is so clearly sketchy and self-interested a la Michael Cohen that everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt.

Can't believe you'd so casually impugn the character of someone who looks like he just stepped out of a David Lee Roth video.

(If only they'd shot the interview in extreme close-up through a fisheye lens as Lev exaggeratedly mopped flop sweat from his brow.)

And a glazed donut to go!

and good morning!!

On the other head, he is so clearly sketchy and self-interested a la Michael Cohen that everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt.

Unlike his boss, Donald J. Trump.

There's no reason not to believe this guy. You don't just go ratting out the president, his lawyer, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the vice president, and the former chair of the house intelligence committee on a whim

unfortunately for us guys like this and Michael Cohen are more credible than most any elected Republican

There is every reason not to believe this guy! (At least not entirely.) He's trying to stay out of jail and/or not get whacked. But there is every reason to believe him, too, as the people he is ratting on are criminals and liars. Tbh I'm not sure I heard anything new from him as opposed to just more/further corroboration of stuff that's been reported. But since it's corroboration from the mouth of a sketchy, not trustworthy guy out to save himself ... we're a bit back to the beginning.

Like, everything he said is definitely within the realm of truth, don't get me wrong. I'm just not sure what it offers yet beyond a bit more pressure, more reasons others with more direct knowledge should testify. But that may be up to the aforementioned criminals liars.

The police in Ukraine have opened a criminal investigation into whether allies of President Trump had the United States ambassador to the country under surveillance while she was stationed in Kyiv, the Ukrainian government said on Thursday.

See, it’s not THAT hard to get Ukraine to announce a criminal investigation!

To be the first of millions of people to make that joke today

xp Josh you have effectively put over Lindsey Graham's talking points next week.

And you are levaing out the big difference between his story and the accounts he effectively corroborates and fleshes out: he has evidentiary documents, audio recordings, and texts

It's far from getting the president removed from office but it's hardly "back to the beginning."

Between this and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thread on ILM, Josh is in a very "eh, I don't see the big deal" mood this week.

I watched excerpts of Parnas talking to Anderson Cooper this morning and I was way more stunning than I expected it to be, particularly since he also provided evidence to back up his claims

I haven’t read the rock HOF thread but it sounds like he might be otm there

Parnas has also—I think persuasively—dismissed claims that Yovanovich was physically surveilled or in any physical danger

KM have you seen the interview?

Yeah, I dunno, I feel like we have been here before. For example, the author of that New Yorker piece exposing thoroughly reported Trump inc. corruption and money laundering in Central Asia has been reminding people of his piece, saying, basically, hey, it's all here, tons of crime! But Congress, law enforcement, the press, all seem unwilling or unable to do anything with this information. as of yet. who knows, things might change.