Octopus Overlords

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday signed a bill that would allow certain members of Congress to access to President Donald Trump's New York state tax returns.

The bill, which Cuomo had been expected to OK, requires New York officials to release tax returns of public officials that have been requested by "congressional tax-related committees" that have cited "specified and legitimate legislative purpose" in seeking them.
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The laws in place prior to Cuomo's signing of the bill generally prohibit such a release, and those congressional panels — the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation — could file a request with the state only after efforts to gain access to federal tax filings through the Treasury Department fail.

It feels as if nobody read the Mueller report. That's a shame, because it's an important document, depicting possible crimes by a sitting US president.

But not reading it makes sense. As a narrative, the document is a disaster. And at 448 pages, it's too long to grind through. For long stretches, it reads less like a story and more like a terms-of-service agreement. The instinct to click "next" is strong.

And yet, buried within the Mueller report, there is a narrative that reads in parts like a thriller, like a comedy, like a tragedy — and, most important — like an indictment. The facts are compelling, all the more so because they come not from President Donald Trump's critics or "fake news" reports, but from Trump's own handpicked colleagues and associates. The story just needed to be rearranged in a better form.

So we hired Mark Bowden, a journalist and author known for his brilliant works of narrative nonfiction like "Black Hawk Down," "Killing Pablo," and "Hue 1968."

Our assignment for him was simple. Use the interviews and facts laid out in the Mueller report (plus those from reliable, fact-checked sources and published firsthand accounts) to do what he does best: Tell a story recounting Mueller's report that's so gripping it will hold your attention (and maybe your congressional representative's).

We also hired Chad Hurd, an illustrator from the art department of "Archer." We asked him to draw out scenes from the report to bring them to life.

Max Peck wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:38 pm We also hired Chad Hurd, an illustrator from the art department of "Archer." We asked him to draw out scenes from the report to bring them to life.

A federal judge on Tuesday barred Roger Stone from communicating through Instagram, Twitter or Facebook until after his trial after months of social media postings that the judge said violated a gag order she had imposed to prevent prejudicing potential jurors.

The new order says Stone cannot post anything to the social media sites, expanding on the previous gag order that banned his discussing his case or its participants in the media or public settings.
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Jackson did not say how she would enforce the tighter order, but said she could hold a hearing to find Stone in contempt of court later, possibly after his trial. She said holding such a hearing now would waste both sides’ resources and the court’s, and might spread the prejudicial pretrial publicity she is trying to prevent.
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Kravis said the prosecutors were not asking that Stone be jailed or face any particular sanction, explaining that prosecutors were most interested in “protecting the jury pool and protecting the fair trial right” going forward, not “punishing the defendant’s past conduct.”

Jackson said the clarity of her Feb. 21 order was “undisputed” but it was not a week before Stone texted about Cohen, a potential witness in the case. She said that came as his lawyers dissembled and Stone withheld information on the stand in her court about the publication of a book by Stone about the investigation.

ederal prosecutors in New York have ended their investigation into the Trump Organization's role in hush money payments made to women who alleged affairs with President Donald Trump and have been ordered by a judge to release additional information connected to their related probe of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

CNN reported Friday that the Manhattan US Attorney's office had approached the end of its investigation of the Trump Organization and wasn't poised to charge any executives involved in the company's effort to reimburse Cohen for money he paid to silence one of the women. That payment constituted an illegal campaign contribution, according to prosecutors. Trump has denied the affair allegations.

"The campaign finance violations discussed in the Materials are a matter of national importance," US District Court Judge William Pauley wrote in his decision. "Now that the Government's investigation into those violations has concluded, it is time that every American has an opportunity to scrutinize the Materials."

Pauley ordered a copy of the government's July status report and copies of search warrant materials from the Cohen case to be filed publicly with very limited redactions by Thursday at 11 a.m. ET.

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 5:47 pm Any predictions about how it'll go?

em2nought wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 6:22 pm

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 5:47 pm Any predictions about how it'll go?

It will be hours and hours of time wasted on something that won't be productive.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 7:22 pm

em2nought wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 6:22 pm

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 5:47 pm Any predictions about how it'll go?

It will be hours and hours of time wasted on something that won't be productive.

You must be thinking of Hillary Clinton.

President Trump has filed a lawsuit against the House Ways and Means Committee and New York state officials in an attempt to keep them from getting their hands on his state tax returns.
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The president filed the suit in his personal capacity.

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 9:27 am I predict no needle will move on any meter whatsoever.

malchior wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 9:56 am I've been watching. Each side is extracting their sound bites. Mueller isnt being cooperative, was ordered not to talk outside the report, and is sticking to that to the detriment of public understanding. If this continues this will go down as a 'tie' because the media cant get away from the horse race.

Kurth wrote:

malchior wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 9:56 am I've been watching. Each side is extracting their sound bites. Mueller isnt being cooperative, was ordered not to talk outside the report, and is sticking to that to the detriment of public understanding. If this continues this will go down as a 'tie' because the media cant get away from the horse race.

It was always going to be a “tie” because that’s what it is. There was never going to be any upside to Mueller testifying. Big waste of time. He’s not going to add anything to his report. Dems will get him to confirm sound bytes in it. Republicans will troll and try to discredit him. MOTSS.

Octavious wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:59 am I don't get the point of this. He's just repeating what everyone already knew. There's not going to be anything gained from this at all. Trump successfully dodged the investigation just like he will successfully dodge anyone seeing his taxes. Stall, distract and lie. The american way.

Octavious wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:59 am I don't get the point of this. He's just repeating what everyone already knew. There's not going to be anything gained from this at all. Trump successfully dodged the investigation just like he will successfully dodge anyone seeing his taxes. Stall, distract and lie. The american way.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:31 amThe right soundbite could go viral.

malchior wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:49 am Here is the summation of the Republican questioning effort by Armstrong. Hillary Clinton! Hillary Clinton! Hillary Clinton! Hillary Clinton! Hillary Clinton! Some people should have recused because Hillary Clinton!

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 12:03 pmState run media gonna state run, I guess.

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 12:03 pm As expected, Fox News is going with the narrative that Mueller is "ducking and weaving" and that he's so addled that he's asking them to repeat questions.

State run media gonna state run, I guess.

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 12:03 pm As expected, tRump is going with the narrative that Mueller is "ducking and weaving" and that he's so addled that he's asking them to repeat questions.

Media run state gonna media run, I guess.