By the book

14 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Josh Hawley, US Senate

Tags

Attorney General, audit, Bill Webster, investigation, Jay Ashcroft, Josh Hawley, missouri, Nicole Galloway, Secretary of State, State Auditor

“…heightened scrutiny…”

Josh Hawley (r) [2016 file photo].

State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D) [2018 file photo].

Auditor Galloway responds to request from Secretary of State for assistance in investigating complaint against Attorney General
December 14, 2018

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo (Dec. 14, 2018) State Auditor Nicole Galloway today responded to the request by Secretary Jay Ashcroft for assistance in investigating a complaint against the Attorney General. The complaint alleges Attorney General Josh Hawley used public funds to support his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. A routine closeout audit of the Attorney General’s Office will begin after Attorney General Hawley officially resigns.

“The goal of an independent audit is to get to the truth for taxpayers and not to proceed based on assumptions,” Auditor Galloway said. “My office will review these concerns with heightened scrutiny.”
[….]

It’s nice to have a real State Auditor.

The letter [pdf] from State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D) to Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (r):

Nicole R. Galloway, CPA
Missouri State Auditor
December 14, 2018

The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 W. Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Re: Closeout audit of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office

Dear Secretary Ashcroft:

In your letter dated December 10, 2018, you requested my office investigate, as part of or routine closeout audit, whether Attorney general Josh Hawley used public funds while Attorney general in support of hi candidacy for the U.S Senate. In that letter, you also offered to provide documents to my office and requested access to audit records, as well s access to audit discussions with employees and third-parties related to the allegations of improper use of state resources.

Based on you letter, I understand that you have determined that the allegations in the American Democracy League Fund complaint are not frivolous, and are proceeding with an investigation. We appreciate your offer to provide documentation obtained in the course of your investigation. My office will be reaching out to your office to request these documents.

As you noted, the State Auditor’s Office always reviews use of taxpayer funds in audits. The same is true of any closeout audit of a statewide office holder. Based on the concerns expressed in your letter, my office will review the allegation with heightened scrutiny.

A closeout audit will begin when the term of the prior officer has ended – here, after Attorney general Hawley officially resigns. Attorney General Hawley’s administration will be the subject of the audit, but the auditee will be both Attorney general Hawley and appointed Attorney General Eric Schmitt. As such, document requests to that office will be directed to and processed by incoming Attorney General Schmitt.

Missouri law permits us to share with you records in matters officially before your office. In conducting an audit, we must comply with Government Auditing Standards established by the Comptroller General of the United States, as well as Missouri law. We look forward to discussing those parameters with your office.

[….]

My Chief of Staff, Michael Moorefield, will be contacting your office in the coming days.

Sincerely,
s/
Nicole Galloway, CPA
State Auditor

cc: The Honorable Josh Hawley, Missouri Attorney General
The Honorable Eric Schmitt, Missouri State Treasurer

Jay Ashcroft (r) [2017 file photo].

Alrighty then.

Throw everything against the wall

09 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Resist, social media

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Tags

#resist, Donald Trump, impeachment, investigation, It's Mueller Time, Media, Robert Mueller, Russia, social media, special counsel, Twitter

Consciousness of guilt.

Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…

This evening:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
The Trump Administration has accomplished more than any other U.S. Administration in its first two (not even) years of existence, & we are having a great time doing it! All of this despite the Fake News Media, which has gone totally out of its mind-truly the Enemy of the People!
4:43 PM – 9 Dec 2018

“…Enemy of the People…” That’s a problem.

A new hope…

09 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Resist

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Tags

corruption, Donald Trump, impeachment, investigation, It's Mueller Time, Resist, Robert Mueller, special counsel

“…I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened…”

Over two years too late.

‘Siege warfare’: Republican anxiety spikes as Trump faces growing legal and political perils (December 9, 2018)

We can only hope.

This morning, from Sheev Palpatine:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
On 245 occasions, former FBI Director James Comey told House investigators he didn’t know, didn’t recall, or couldn’t remember things when asked. Opened investigations on 4 Americans (not 2) – didn’t know who signed off and didn’t know Christopher Steele. All lies!
7:38 AM – 9 Dec 2018

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Leakin’ James Comey must have set a record for who lied the most to Congress in one day. His Friday testimony was so untruthful! This whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President. They are now exposed!
7:53 AM – 9 Dec 2018

Strong with this one the smell of fear is.

Vladimir Putin didn’t need to win a cold war, he just needed to wait long enough to find a few penny ante grifters willing to sell America out for a quick buck

08 Saturday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

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Tags

Cheap Grifters, Donald Trump, impeachment, Individual 1, investigation, It's Mueller Time, Michael Cohen, Robert Mueller, Russia, special counsel, Vladimir Putin

And he found them.

Client state.

From a filing yesterday by the Special Counsel:

“…By publicly presenting this false narrative, the defendant deliberately shifted the timeline of what had occurred in the hopes of limiting the investigations into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election—an issue of heightened national interest.

The defendant’s false statements obscured the fact that the Moscow Project was a lucrative business opportunity that sought, and likely required, the assistance of the Russian government. If the project was completed, the Company could have received hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues. The fact that Cohen continued to work on the project and discuss it with Individual 1 well into the campaign was material to the ongoing congressional and SCO investigations, particularly because it occurred at a time of sustained efforts by the Russian government to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. Similarly, it was material that Cohen, during the campaign, had a substantive telephone call about the project with an assistant to the press secretary for the President of Russia.

The defendant’s false statements to Congress began in approximately late August 2017, when he submitted his written statement about the Moscow Project to SSCI and HPSCI. His false statements continued through his oral testimony before the committees in October 2017. And when Cohen first met with the SCO in August 2018, he repeated many of his prior false statements about the circumstances of the Moscow Project.1 Only when the defendant met with the SCO a second time on September 12, 2018—after he had pled guilty in United States v. Cohen, 18-cr-602…”
Page 3, Case 1:18-cr-00850-WHP Document 15 Filed 12/07/18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK – The Special Counsel’s Office

Individual 1 is Donald Trump (r).

“…the defendant provided a detailed account of his involvement and the involvement of others in the Moscow Project, and also corrected the record concerning his outreach to the Russian government during the week of the United Nations General Assembly. The defendant also provided information about attempts by other Russian nationals to reach the campaign. For example, in or around November 2015, Cohen received the contact information for, and spoke with, a Russian national who claimed to be a ‘trusted person’ in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign ‘political synergy’ and ‘synergy on a government level.’ The defendant recalled that this person repeatedly proposed a meeting between Individual 1 and the President of Russia. The person told Cohen that such a meeting could have a “phenomenal” impact ‘not only in political but in a business dimension as well,’ referring to the Moscow Project, because there is ‘no bigger warranty in any project than consent of [the President of Russia]’…”

Page 5, Case 1:18-cr-00850-WHP Document 15 Filed 12/07/18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK – The Special Counsel’s Office

Cheap grifters, all of them.

Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…

Previously:

There’s a sense of…panic (December 7, 2018)

Enjoy this brief moment of Zen… (December 7, 2018)

Think again, Skippy (December 7, 2018)

Think again, Skippy

07 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Donald Trump, felony, impeachment, investigation, It's Mueller Time, Michael Cohen, Robert Mueller, SDNY

Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…

Skippy, via Twitter this evening:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Totally clears the President. Thank you!
5:00 PM – 7 Dec 2018

Obviously has reading comprehension issues. Filed earlier today:

“…In January 2017, Cohen formally left the Company and began holding himself out as the ‘personal attorney’ to Individual-1, who at that point had become the President of the United States…”
Page 3, Case 1:18-cr-00602-WHP Document 27 Filed 12/07/18, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

“…4. Cohen’s Illegal Campaign Contributions

On approximately June 16, 2015, Individual-1, for whom Cohen worked at the time, began an ultimately successful campaign for President of the United States. Cohen had no formal title with the campaign, but had a campaign email address, and, at various times advised the campaign, including on matters of interest to the press. Cohen also made media appearances as a surrogate and supporter of Individual-1. (PSR ¶ 39). During the campaign, Cohen played a central role in two similar schemes to purchase the rights to stories – each from women who claimed to have had an affair with Individual-1 – so as to suppress the stories and thereby prevent them from influencing the election. With respect to both payments, Cohen acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election. Cohen coordinated his actions with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments. (PSR ¶ 51). In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1. (PSR ¶¶ 41, 45). As a result of Cohen’s actions, neither woman spoke to the press prior to the election. (PSR ¶ 51)…”
Page 13, Case 1:18-cr-00602-WHP Document 27 Filed 12/07/18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

There’s a sense of…panic

07 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Resist, social media

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Donald Trump, impeachment, investigation, It's Mueller Time, Panic, Russia, social media, special counsel, Twitter

Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…

There’s more this morning:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
It has been incorrectly reported that Rudy Giuliani and others will not be doing a counter to the Mueller Report. That is Fake News. Already 87 pages done, but obviously cannot complete until we see the final Witch Hunt Report.
7:39 AM – 7 Dec 2018

Previously:

Enjoy this brief moment of Zen… (December 7, 2018)

Enjoy this brief moment of Zen…

07 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Resist, social media

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#resist, Donald Trump, investigation, It's Mueller Time, missouri, Robert Mueller, Russia, social media, sunrise, Twitter

…before all hell breaks loose.

Sunrise.

Ooops. Too late:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Robert Mueller and Leakin’ Lyin’ James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest. And bye the way, wasn’t the woman in charge of prosecuting Jerome Corsi (who I do not know) in charge of “legal” at the corrupt Clinton Foundation? A total Witch Hunt…
5:18 AM – 7 Dec 2018

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
….Will Robert Mueller’s big time conflicts of interest be listed at the top of his Republicans only Report. Will Andrew Weissman’s horrible and vicious prosecutorial past be listed in the Report. He wrongly destroyed people’s lives, took down great companies, only to be……..
5:28 AM – 7 Dec 2018

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
…..overturned, 9-0, in the United States Supreme Court. Doing same thing to people now. Will all of the substantial & many contributions made by the 17 Angry Democrats to the Campaign of Crooked Hillary be listed in top of Report. Will the people that worked for the Clinton….
5:40 AM – 7 Dec 2018

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
….Foundation be listed at the top of the Report? Will the scathing document written about Lyin’ James Comey, by the man in charge of the case, Rod Rosenstein (who also signed the FISA Warrant), be a big part of the Report? Isn’t Rod therefore totally conflicted? Will all of….
5:53 AM – 7 Dec 2018

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
…the lying and leaking by the people doing the Report, & also Bruce Ohr (and his lovely wife Molly), Comey, Brennan, Clapper, & all of the many fired people of the FBI, be listed in the Report? Will the corruption within the DNC & Clinton Campaign be exposed?..And so much more!
6:15 AM – 7 Dec 2018

Someone is up early.

There’s a sense of…panic.

And then this:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
China talks are going very well!
7:13 AM – 7 Dec 2018

Somehow this doesn’t inspire any confidence.

“…We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error…”

06 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Resist, social media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#resist, Donald Trump, impeachment, investigation, It's Mueller Time, Robert Mueller, social media, special counsel, Twitter

Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…

This evening:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
FAKE NEWS – THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!
9:08 PM – 6 Dec 2018

Think again.

Pass the popcorn.

Josh, we barely knew ya

06 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in Josh Hawley, US Senate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Attorney General, investigation, Josh Hawley, missouri, Secretary of State, U.S. Senate

Uh, oh.

Alexandra @aliemalie
Can you serve in the US Senate if you’re in federal prison? Asking for a friend.
[….]
3:31 PM – 6 Dec 2018

A month ago:

ADLF Files Legal Complaint Against Hawley For Misuse of Public Funds
November 5, 2018, 12:15 pm
The American Democracy Legal Fund has filed a legal complaint against Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley for his misuse of taxpayer resources to further his political career.

The complaint asks the Missouri Secretary of State to investigate Hawley’s alleged outsourcing of Attorney General business to two partisan political consultants, who directed taxpayer-funded Attorney General staff to conduct the office in a manner that would benefit Hawley’s political career.

“Hawley suggested nobody is above the law. And, as Missouri’s chief law enforcement officer and advisor, neither is he,” writes ADLF President Brad Woodhouse. “Hawley’s conduct violates the trust that Missourians gave him to serve the public interest and enforce this state’s laws honorably. And most of all, Hawley’s conduct appears to demonstrate a misuse of public funds.”

Today:

Missouri Secretary of State Ashcroft launches investigation into Josh Hawley
JEFFERSON CITY – Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has launched an investigation into the way Attorney General Josh Hawley ran his attorney general’s office, Ashcroft’s deputy general counsel wrote to the Democratic-allied American Democracy Legal Fund on Thursday.

The group wrote to Ashcroft on Nov. 2, days before the midterm elections, alleging that Hawley may have “used public funds as Attorney General to support his candidacy for U.S. Senate.”

[….]

Pass the popcorn.

Previously:

Josh Hawley (r): Who did you say was in charge at the Attorney General’s office? (October 31, 2018)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D): Who was in charge at the Attorney General’s office? (November 1, 2018)

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): Who was in charge at the Attorney General’s office? – Press Q and A – November 1, 2018 (November 1, 2018)

Josh Hawley (r): Ask me no more questions, I’ll tell you no more lies… (November 4, 2018)