The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) today asked six former presidents and their vice presidents to look to see if they have any presidential records, including documents marked classified, in their possession. It sent the letters to representatives for former presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan and former vice presidents Mike Pence, Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore, and Dan Quayle. It did not make a similar request to former president Jimmy Carter because although he was the one who signed the Presidential Records Act into law, it did not go into effect until he left office.
I’ve lived long enough to see the Cold War, assassinations, Vietnam, the counterculture, civil rights struggles, Watergate, inflation, stagflation, oil embargoes, economic crashes, 9/11, endless war, and all other manner of craziness. Despite all of this, I never felt that the future was hopeless. With the emergence of these lunatics, that has all changed.
Tim Snyder sent an email out to his readers this afternoon with what I assume are the details of that Twitter thread. It is stunning information to think about deeper disarray of the key FBI office in charge of cyber counterintelligence being corrupted and no one paying it any attention. The McGonigal story is truly just the tip of the iceberg
As Timothy Snyder said on Lawrence O'Donnel's show, the investigation into Oleg Deripaska's involvement with Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign was led by an FBI agent who then went to work for Deripaska. Oncecan safely conclude that the initial investigation into Trump and Russia was faulty and subject to misdirection from the man responsible for running it.
And what financial crimes was Trump involved in that the Italians had evidence of, and how did Durham manage to quash that?
"But the truth is that it was the Trump administration that sought to weaponize the government against their perceived enemies."
This powerful sentence in today's standout letter captures the essence of Trump and his acolytes: they always accuse their enemies of what they themselves do. That's how they create false realities that smother the truth. Or so obscure it with misdirection that it's unrecognizable or slips away in all the confusion.
As for Trump and the Russians, I recommend reading more than Timothy Snyder's Twitter thread that the professor references. Devour his in-depth "Thinking About..." commentary based on the arrest of former FBI special agent Charles McGonigal. The opening: "We are on the edge of a spy scandal with major implications for how we understand the Trump administration, our national security, and ourselves."
Maybe this metaphor might help someone confused about the Trump & Biden classified document issue. As a librarian for nearly 40 years, I know the difference between an overdue book and one that is stolen. It is as simple as that.
I hadn't heard about the grenade theatrics until now. Not surprising.
What I had heard today was the deep commitment McCarthy has for MTG and the extent he will go for her. Why? She is a classless election denier and QAnon enthusiast. She holds every characteristic this Country is supposed to be against, yet has been catapulted to influential Committees that, in the wrong hands are designed to bring this Country down. More to the point, she will.
Would you ever have thought 2 years ago that this Country would be so debased?
When Biden won the election, I had such promise that he would bring this Country together and right this ship that Trump had so carelessly tossed aside. Perhaps, I was naive in the powers of Biden being able to work with these people. But, who would ever think these MAGA's would even survive the transition. I didn't. I thought they were a flash in the pan that would quickly be forgotten.
Good grief! That's about all I can muster in response to this. The convolutions defy common decency. The inherent wrong in Trumpian (actually, I guess that is Putinesque) reverse psychology is just plain Orwellian...or is that just plain evil?
Yesterday evening, London time, I read an AP story about classified documents from Carter’s 1980 reelection campaign, allegedly stolen by agents working for Reagan’s campaign, lost and found in a hotel room and later taken to school by a child for show and tell. https://apnews.com/article/50e221ea424392b3582cd0d305cab0ee
Meanwhile...
tfg and his cronies cozying up to Putin and Russian oligarchs remains alarming. And - “House Republican Cory Mills of Florida, endorsed by Trump, handed out defused grenades today on the floor of the House.”
WTH is going on and how is it that heads aren’t rolling?
Now I am starting to wonder whether Putin or his cronies are the ones who engineered Schiff off the Intelligence Committee. By engineered, I mean, leaned on Trump to twist Kevin's arm.
Perhaps its best that Schiff not share his expertise with Russian Intelligence Ops with the likes of MTG and McCarthy etc. That could be tragic. His knowledge will be channeled elsewhere. Many back channels will be needed the next 2 yrs.
Handing out grenades on the floor by an elected official. No words. Hope doesn’t do anything. Prayer? TY HCR.
The circus surrounding "nice guy" Kevin McCarthy and his small band of right wiing House vultures is reminiscent of the 1990s Tea Party fiasco. Our Founding Fathers may have been well intended in going to great lengths to protect political minority rights, but misfits like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boehbert belie any benefits we might derive by accommodating their brand of extremism.
Admire how Prof. Richardson et al are going after the "analog"--sure files were hidden even before Watergate--but let's hope that one day someone considers the utter decimation of digital data since the NCLIS (national committee on library and information science) was closed during Bush 2's presidency. Once upon a time you could see the big black-lined redactions. But now that each federal agency manages its information, redactions have become invisible. Happy to pass on this info. to anyone interested! Cheers, Alex.
Sad but substack is acting so strangely: hacked or a bug? Remember when Trump met Putin at a meeting with only Putin's interpreter? That said it all, but was passed over as if normal and here we are.
Holy crap! I’ve been talking about the Russians since the Cambridge Analytica hack was revealed in 2017. All misdeeds stem from or lead back to Putin, and there is no underestimating it. Go on FB and live in the comments section; the trolls are everywhere, even in the flowery comments to Pres Biden. When I mention this, most people think I’m nuts, that I’m too paranoid over Russians. Russians are in the culture wars; Russians are in the House of Representatives; and Russians sill have their money down on Trump, because he’s the best specimen to undermine America from within.
I’ve lived long enough to see the Cold War, assassinations, Vietnam, the counterculture, civil rights struggles, Watergate, inflation, stagflation, oil embargoes, economic crashes, 9/11, endless war, and all other manner of craziness. Despite all of this, I never felt that the future was hopeless. With the emergence of these lunatics, that has all changed.
Tim Snyder sent an email out to his readers this afternoon with what I assume are the details of that Twitter thread. It is stunning information to think about deeper disarray of the key FBI office in charge of cyber counterintelligence being corrupted and no one paying it any attention. The McGonigal story is truly just the tip of the iceberg
As Timothy Snyder said on Lawrence O'Donnel's show, the investigation into Oleg Deripaska's involvement with Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign was led by an FBI agent who then went to work for Deripaska. Oncecan safely conclude that the initial investigation into Trump and Russia was faulty and subject to misdirection from the man responsible for running it.
And what financial crimes was Trump involved in that the Italians had evidence of, and how did Durham manage to quash that?
I read Timothy Snyder’s post on Substack today. It is what we thought we knew, and much more confirmed. Here is the link. It is a must read.
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-specter-of-2016?r=3jvi8&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
"But the truth is that it was the Trump administration that sought to weaponize the government against their perceived enemies."
This powerful sentence in today's standout letter captures the essence of Trump and his acolytes: they always accuse their enemies of what they themselves do. That's how they create false realities that smother the truth. Or so obscure it with misdirection that it's unrecognizable or slips away in all the confusion.
As for Trump and the Russians, I recommend reading more than Timothy Snyder's Twitter thread that the professor references. Devour his in-depth "Thinking About..." commentary based on the arrest of former FBI special agent Charles McGonigal. The opening: "We are on the edge of a spy scandal with major implications for how we understand the Trump administration, our national security, and ourselves."
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-specter-of-2016?r=57fmo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
How naive we were to think Joe Biden's election to the presidency in 2020 was the beginning of the end to all our troubles.
Maybe this metaphor might help someone confused about the Trump & Biden classified document issue. As a librarian for nearly 40 years, I know the difference between an overdue book and one that is stolen. It is as simple as that.
Thank you Heather.
I hadn't heard about the grenade theatrics until now. Not surprising.
What I had heard today was the deep commitment McCarthy has for MTG and the extent he will go for her. Why? She is a classless election denier and QAnon enthusiast. She holds every characteristic this Country is supposed to be against, yet has been catapulted to influential Committees that, in the wrong hands are designed to bring this Country down. More to the point, she will.
Would you ever have thought 2 years ago that this Country would be so debased?
When Biden won the election, I had such promise that he would bring this Country together and right this ship that Trump had so carelessly tossed aside. Perhaps, I was naive in the powers of Biden being able to work with these people. But, who would ever think these MAGA's would even survive the transition. I didn't. I thought they were a flash in the pan that would quickly be forgotten.
I've been proved wrong.
Be safe. Be well.
Good grief! That's about all I can muster in response to this. The convolutions defy common decency. The inherent wrong in Trumpian (actually, I guess that is Putinesque) reverse psychology is just plain Orwellian...or is that just plain evil?
Thank you Heather.
Yesterday evening, London time, I read an AP story about classified documents from Carter’s 1980 reelection campaign, allegedly stolen by agents working for Reagan’s campaign, lost and found in a hotel room and later taken to school by a child for show and tell. https://apnews.com/article/50e221ea424392b3582cd0d305cab0ee
Meanwhile...
tfg and his cronies cozying up to Putin and Russian oligarchs remains alarming. And - “House Republican Cory Mills of Florida, endorsed by Trump, handed out defused grenades today on the floor of the House.”
WTH is going on and how is it that heads aren’t rolling?
Now I am starting to wonder whether Putin or his cronies are the ones who engineered Schiff off the Intelligence Committee. By engineered, I mean, leaned on Trump to twist Kevin's arm.
Perhaps its best that Schiff not share his expertise with Russian Intelligence Ops with the likes of MTG and McCarthy etc. That could be tragic. His knowledge will be channeled elsewhere. Many back channels will be needed the next 2 yrs.
Handing out grenades on the floor by an elected official. No words. Hope doesn’t do anything. Prayer? TY HCR.
The circus surrounding "nice guy" Kevin McCarthy and his small band of right wiing House vultures is reminiscent of the 1990s Tea Party fiasco. Our Founding Fathers may have been well intended in going to great lengths to protect political minority rights, but misfits like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boehbert belie any benefits we might derive by accommodating their brand of extremism.
Admire how Prof. Richardson et al are going after the "analog"--sure files were hidden even before Watergate--but let's hope that one day someone considers the utter decimation of digital data since the NCLIS (national committee on library and information science) was closed during Bush 2's presidency. Once upon a time you could see the big black-lined redactions. But now that each federal agency manages its information, redactions have become invisible. Happy to pass on this info. to anyone interested! Cheers, Alex.
Sad but substack is acting so strangely: hacked or a bug? Remember when Trump met Putin at a meeting with only Putin's interpreter? That said it all, but was passed over as if normal and here we are.
Holy crap! I’ve been talking about the Russians since the Cambridge Analytica hack was revealed in 2017. All misdeeds stem from or lead back to Putin, and there is no underestimating it. Go on FB and live in the comments section; the trolls are everywhere, even in the flowery comments to Pres Biden. When I mention this, most people think I’m nuts, that I’m too paranoid over Russians. Russians are in the culture wars; Russians are in the House of Representatives; and Russians sill have their money down on Trump, because he’s the best specimen to undermine America from within.