Trump's 'Obamagate' comments and Barr's Flynn meddling suggest troubling new pivot

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-obamagate-comments-barr-s-flynn-meddling-suggest-troubling-ncna1204856

In my 25 years as an FBI special agent and (now retired) head of the bureau's counterintelligence, I learned the value of predictive analysis. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the FBI transitioned from an investigative agency adept at investigating what happened after the fact to an intelligence agency capable of forecasting and preventing harm from happening in the future.

Trump is clearly still sensitive about the 2016 election, and especially about concerns that he may not have beaten former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fairly. He therefore has a special interest in undermining accusations of Russian meddling, something he has done since entering the Oval Office. What better way to do this than to flip the script? He didn't have an advantage; in fact, he was the victim

As other commentators have pointed out, attempting this bait and switch would likely involve efforts to censure, discipline or even criminally charge current and former government officials, such as former CIA Director John Brennan, fired FBI Director James Comey, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former National Intelligence Director James Clapper and perhaps even Obama and Biden. During his Monday news conference in the Rose Garden, a reporter asked Trump what crime he might accuse Obama of committing. Trump responded: "Obamagate, it's been going on for a long time. It's been going on from before I got elected, and it's a disgrace that it happened. You look at, now, all of this information that's being released, and from what I understand, that's only the beginning."

What is 'Obamagate' and why is Trump so worked up about it?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/12/what-is-obamagate-and-why-is-trump-so-worked-up-about-it

The US president spent Mother’s Day diving into the rightwing fever swamps and unleashing a barrage of tweets and retweets assailing his predecessor

 

Senate Republicans break with Trump over ‘Obamagate’

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/11/senate-republicans-trump-obamagate-249734

After the Justice Department’s abrupt decision last week to drop the criminal case against Flynn, Trump shifted his public focus over the weekend to mount a three-day tear against his predecessor on Twitter, accusing Obama of committing the “biggest political crime in American history.” Trump sought to popularize the hashtag “Obamagate,” which he said makes the Watergate scandal “look small time.” Trump also said Obama “got caught” and later retweeted comments by Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, who said Obama was part of an effort to frame and entrap her client.

 

Trump hardens campaign tone after virus batters economy

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/12/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-reelection/index.html

Trump also signaled a new fallback strategy designed to whip up the fervor of his base by accusing his predecessor of mounting an attempt to cancel out his win in 2016 in what his supporters refer to as a "deep state plot."

"Obamagate. It's been going on for a long time. It's been going on from before I even got elected, and it's a disgrace that it happened," Trump claimed without evidence. Asked by a reporter to identify the crime he had accused Obama in a tweet of committing, he responded: "You know what the crime is. The crime is obvious to everybody."

The conservative media machine is pulsating with the reverberations of Attorney General William Barr's decision last week to drop charges against Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in a case that arose from the Russia investigation.

Shortly after Trump spoke, the scope of the Republican election attack became even more clear as Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa pressed the conspiracy theory on the Senate floor.

"The rule of law is at risk if the federal government can get away with violating the Constitution to do what they did to Lt. Gen. Flynn," said Grassley. "Given all that we know now regarding the fake foundation to the inquiry, it's time we asked: What did Obama and Biden know and when did they know it?"

Republican Group Releases Ad Encouraging Americans to Hold Trump Accountable for Abusing His Power

https://www.newsweek.com/republican-group-releases-ad-encouraging-americans-hold-trump-accountable-abusing-his-power-1503281

Conservative group Republicans for the Rule of Law (RRL) released two new advertisements on Monday highlighting how President Donald Trump has allegedly attempted to avoid all forms of oversight.

The group's latest videos, which ran on Fox News' Fox & Friends, Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity, come ahead of Tuesday's oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court which could determine if Trump could be indicted for crimes while in office. Trump's legal team argues that the president cannot be investigated for wrongdoings while he is in office.

Pulse oximeters are selling out because of the pandemic. Most people don’t need them

https://qz.com/1832464/pulse-oximeters-for-coronavirus-unnecessary-but-selling-strong/

Amazon is currently flooded with listings for pulse oximeters, many of which are not FDA-approved. People who use such devices are at risk of getting an inaccurate reading. A 2016 study in Anesthesia & Analgesia looked at a number of inexpensive pulse oximeters not cleared by the FDA, and found that many of them were prone to large errors.

A number of wearables offer SpO2 features, including ones offered by Fitbit and Garmin. Apps that use your smartphone’s camera to deliver SpO2 measurements can be hit-or-miss. Such technology hasn’t been cleared by the FDA. One study looked at three pulse oximeter apps: iOx, OX, and POx. All three apps delivered inaccurate SpO2 measurements, according to the authors, from the University of Alabama and the University of Michigan.

 

Something Appears To Be Wrong With Donald Trump | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

White House Orders Staff to Wear Masks as Trump Misrepresents Testing Record

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/us/politics/white-house-masks-trump-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

Declaring once again that “if somebody wants to be tested right now, they’ll be able to be tested,” Mr. Trump said that his administration was working with states to allow them to conduct 12.9 million tests in May, insisting that the testing ability in the United States compares favorably with other countries.

“We are testing more people per capita than South Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Sweden, Finland and many other countries,” he said, ignoring countries where testing on a per capita basis is higher, including Germany, Russia, Spain, Canada, Switzerland and at least 20 others, according to statistics compiled by Our World in Data.

Mr. Trump also mischaracterized the trajectory of new cases in the United States.

“The numbers are way down from what they were two weeks ago,” the president said. “The numbers are really coming down very substantially. This weekend was one of the lowest we’ve had. The numbers are coming down very rapidly.”

The number of new cases reported across the country this weekend was 45,227. That is lower than the 60,872 cases reported from April 25 to April 26. But over the past two weeks, the numbers of new cases over all have declined only slightly — not substantially.

The stakes of Trump's tax return case couldn't be higher

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/11/opinions/trump-tax-returns-supreme-court-stakes-honig/index.html

 After years of political wrangling and multi-front litigation, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday on the battle over President Donald Trump's tax returns. The stakes are enormous. The court will decide by the end of its current term not only whether Trump's tax returns ever see light of day, but also whether the President stands so far above the law that he cannot meaningfully be held accountable to other branches of government and the American public.

 

The dispute over Trump's tax returns has been politically heated but, legally, this should be an easy call for the court. Trump has fought to the bitter end, though ultimately the law should give him no refuge: the tax returns must go to Congress, and even as a sitting president, he cannot be immune from investigation by prosecutors.

Trump Concerned About Re-Election Chances: Report | Morning Joe | MSNBC

What’s a Pulse Oximeter, and Do I Really Need One at Home?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/well/live/coronavirus-pulse-oximeter-oxygen.html

A tiny fingertip device can give you valuable information about your health during a bout of Covid-19 or any respiratory illness.

 

Health officials are divided on whether home monitoring with a pulse oximeter should be recommended on a widespread basis during Covid-19. Studies of reliability show mixed results, and there’s little guidance on how to choose one. But many doctors are advising patients to get one, making it the go-to gadget of the pandemic. We’ve answered common questions about the device, how it works and what to do with the information it gives you.

Senate panel backs assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/senate-panel-backs-assessment-that-russia-interfered-in-the-2016-election

 A bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday affirms the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a far-ranging influence campaign approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and aimed at helping Donald Trump win the White House.

The report rejects Trump's claims that the intelligence community was biased against him when it concluded that Russia had interfered on his behalf in the election. It says instead that intelligence officials had specific information that Russia preferred Trump in the election, that it sought to denigrate Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and that Putin had “approved and directed aspects" of the Kremlin's influence campaign.

The Senate just proved Donald Trump wrong -- again -- on Russian interference in 2016

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/senate-intelligence-committee-donald-trump-russia/index.html

The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, released its long-awaited 156-page report detailing its investigation into allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election.

Opinion: Was Michael Flynn cleared ‘in the interests of justice’ — or to please Trump?

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-05-07/opinion-was-flynn-cleared-in-the-interests-of-justice-or-to-please-trump

 The criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Trump’s disastrous first national security advisor, took the latest of many twists Thursday when the Justice Department moved to drop the prosecution against him. Never mind that Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador between the 2016 election and Trump’s inauguration. (He later tried to withdraw the plea and have the charge dismissed.)

 

Senate report details foreign meddling in 2016 election, urges Trump to take preventative measures for 2020

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bipartisan-senate-report-foreign-meddling-2016-trump-2020-election

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday issued a report urging President Trump to warn the public about efforts by foreign governments to interfere in U.S. elections and take steps to prevent hostile nations from using social media to meddle in the 2020 vote.

 

Gregg Jarrett: Evidence of Russian interference in 2020 election 'completely overstated'

https://www.foxnews.com/media/gregg-jarrett-evidence-russian-interference-2020-overstated

Discussing the claim that Russia is making a specific "play" to boost President Trump's reelection bid on "The Story" Monday, Jarrett said he spoke privately with a "key official" involved with the matter who called the media narrative "completely overstated."

 WOW!!!!!

FBI Didn’t Clear Michael Flynn

https://www.factcheck.org/2018/11/fbi-didnt-clear-michael-flynn/

 Q: Was former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn recently cleared by the FBI in the Russia probe?  

A: No. A website makes that claim based on an outdated news story that was published prior to Flynn pleading guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about his conversations with a top Russian official.

His head wasn't in the world of reality': how the plot to invade Venezuela fell apart

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/08/his-head-wasnt-in-the-world-of-reality-how-the-plot-to-invade-venezuela-fell-apart

The plan to overthrow Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and bundle him off to Florida to face drug trafficking charges seemed foolproof to a former US army staff sergeant, Jordan Goudreau, as he mapped it out in a luxury Miami apartment in late 2019. The 43-year-old Canadian-American was certain his years as a green beret in Iraq and Afghanistan had prepared him for the task.

 

Bipartisan Senate Report Backs Assessment That Russia Interfered in the 2016 Presidential Election

https://time.com/5825061/senate-report-russia-interference/

1. A bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday confirms the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to sow chaos. Senators warned that it could happen again this presidential election year.
2. The heavily redacted report from the Senate Intelligence Committee is part of the panel’s more than three-year investigation into the Russian interference. The intelligence agencies concluded in January 2017 that Russians had engaged in cyber-espionage and distributed messages through Russian-controlled propaganda outlets to undermine public faith in the democratic process, hurt Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump.
3. 
   
4. President Trump has repeatedly questioned the assessment, which was also confirmed by former special counsel Robert Mueller in his report last year. Mueller concluded that Russian interference was “sweeping and systematic,” but he did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Read the declassified report on Russian interference in the U.S. election

https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/read-the-declassified-report-on-russian-interference-in-the-us-election/2433/

The declassified 14-page report, which was released in January, concluded Russian President Vladi­mir Putin ordered the effort to undermine faith in the U.S. presidential election and helped Trump win the White House.

 

‘God is telling us something’: Deri says 70% of Israel’s virus cases are Haredim

https://www.timesofisrael.com/deri-calls-for-ultra-orthodox-soul-searching-amid-high-virus-infection-rate/

Interior minister and Shas party chief urges ‘soul-searching’ in ultra-Orthodox community, cites high virus infection rate in its major cities and smaller neighborhoods

Why Michael Flynn Is Walking Free

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/michael-flynn-learned-to-play-by-trumps-rules/611332/

Flynn was fired from the White House in February 2017, just days into his tenure as national security adviser. Before Trump’s inauguration, Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with the Russian foreign minister. But Flynn lied about those conversations to FBI agents. He also lied about them to Vice President Mike Pence, which was the reason given for his dismissal. (Flynn was not forced out when the president learned of the deception, but only when it was reported in The Washington Post.)

Flynn had a host of other problems too. He had lied repeatedly about taking money from the Turkish government for lobbying, failing to file required documents. He appeared to have lied about who paid for a 2015 trip to Russia, where he sat with Vladimir Putin. He was also involved in an arcane for-profit nuclear-reactor scheme in the Middle East. (One clear takeaway of the investigation is that, potential criminal acts aside, Flynn had no business getting anywhere near the sensitive job of national security adviser.)

The whole process is stunning: Flynn was accused of committing several crimes, admitted to one to try to get himself off easy, agreed to cooperate, reneged on the deal, and is now free, having escaped punishment for both the crime to which he confessed and those on which he avoided prosecution.

Yet Flynn’s escape is not merely an isolated outrage. It is also a test case for loyalty to Trump. Since Flynn flipped on Trump, and then flopped back, his fate offers a lesson for others who might find themselves in a bind and tempted to turn on Trump, who continues to engage in the sort of behavior that got him impeached.

Cooperation deals are supposed to show criminals that returning to the fold and honoring rule of law has its benefits. But the Flynn case shows that those benefits pale in comparison to honoring loyalty to Trump.

The Secrets Flynn Was Desperate to Conceal

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/secrets-flynn-lied-conceal/611377/

The former national security adviser’s lies protected himself. But they also protected Trump.

Russian intelligence services intervened in the 2016 U.S. election to help elect Donald Trump. They intervened in ways that were illegal, and they intervened in ways that were clandestine. In the context of an election decided by 80,000 votes in three states, they intervened in ways that probably were decisive. Altogether, the Russian action to elect Donald Trump in 2016 ranks among the most successful intelligence operations in world history.

President Trump and his supporters dismiss these facts as “the Russia hoax,” but facts they are—facts beyond rational doubt.

Yet despite three years of investigation, much of the Trump-Russia story remains mysterious. We don’t know why the Russians intervened so aggressively, and we don’t fully know how.

Judge Jeanine: The left's attempted coup d'état exposed

Brian Stelter: This is one of the most heinous things I've ever seen on television

Fact-checking five of Trump's false claims this week

post-modernism - it is true because it feels right

https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy

 Postmodernism, also spelled post-modernism, in Western philosophy, a late 20th-century movement characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism, or relativism; a general suspicion of reason; and an acute sensitivity to the role of ideology in asserting and maintaining political and economic power.

Why aren't editorial boards screaming: Trump has to go?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/10/opinions/why-dont-editorial-boards-call-for-trump-to-resign-lockhart/index.html

 By the height of the Watergate scandal in 1974, virtually every major newspaper in America had called for President Richard Nixon's resignation. During the investigation and impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, more than 100 newspapers called for him to resign.

 But President Donald J. Trump? He could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody... and not a single major daily newspaper would call for his resignation. I admit that -- just like the original Trump quote it references -- that Fifth Avenue statement is a bit hyperbolic, but think about it:

 After three years of political and actual carnage under Trump, including Robert Mueller's description of acts that amounted to, he told Congress, obstruction of justice; Trump's "fine people on both sides" reaction to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville where a counter-protester was killed; his rampant conflicts of interest and credible accusations of his violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution; his close to 17,000 false statements; a travel ban that primarily targets mostly Muslim-majority countries; impeachment for alleged extortion of a foreign government (he was acquitted in the Republican Senate), and the gross mishandling of a deadly pandemic, you'd think somebody on an editorial board might say it's time for the President to leave.