I guess we can say that the lesson of the day is that when private conversations are released willy nilly to the public it can be damaging to the parties involved. Read More
With the big news this evening that Gen. H.R. McMaster was finally allowed to fire Flynn protege Ezra Cohen-Watnick, let me refer you back to what I explained back in April: Cohen-Watnick likely had dirty hands in the Russia cover-up. Specifically, his ‘review’ of intelligence which led to the ‘un-masking’ charade was likely an effort to monitor and perhaps interfere with the on-going Russia probe. Read More
Over almost twelve months in which “Trump/Russia” has been a catchword for a confusing and troubling series of relationships between the now President and the Russian government, President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he has ‘no business’ in Russia. We know this is demonstrably not true if we are talking about business deals with individual Russians or citizens of the successor states of the former Soviet Union. We also know it is not true if we mean investments of Russian nationals in various Trump owned or branded real estate properties. It is with major cash investments to build new properties (as opposed to selling units of buildings) and potential building projects in Russia where the picture becomes murkier and more opaque. Read More
Despite all the denials, during the early months of his run for President, Donald Trump had Felix Sater still working on putting together a deal to build Trump Tower Moscow.
I had a really unexpected and gratifying response to my weekend post about Leslie Nielsen. I even heard from some people who knew him well before he died in 2010. But I was particularly taken by this email from TPM Reader JB. Read through to after the JB’s note and see the bonus 1955 wedding photo of a yarmulke-clad Nielsen at the wedding of the president of his fan club …
I logged on this morning into TPM, even though it seems like TPM often chills on the weekend.
I was floored to see a long essay on Leslie Nielsen..
Please indulge this Prime member for a moment, as I would like to tell you some backstory you might find interesting from the Forbidden Planet to the Airplane! era.
Back in the early 50s, my mom was a young New York born, Irvington New Jersey woman infatuated with Hollywood.. even writing a hollywood gossip column in her Irvington High School paper.
Trump apparently lied about receiving a congratulatory phone call from the Boy Scouts after his anti-Obama speech.
Below we discussed the big Washington Post story about President Trump’s role writing what turned out to be a false statement on behalf of his son Don Jr. about that meeting with the Russian lawyer in June 2016. I want to flag a timeline that may be relevant and which may tie together the false Don Jr. statement dictated by the President on Air Force One on July 8th and the conversation Trump had with President Vladimir Putin earlier that evening.
Let’s piece together some published information and dates. Read More
Straight news reporters have to work within many important conventions. These both limit the scope of their work but are equally critical to doing that work properly and effectively. I was reminded of this when reading last night’s blockbuster report in The Washington Post. Read More
The relationship between Donald Trump and Felix Sater is the kind of sordid connection that would have done in almost any past presidential candidate. But many of the details of their relationship remain elusive. In a series of interviews with TPM’s Sam Thielman in recent days, Sater has opened up about his past and his relationship with the president who now keeps his distance. Must read.
As Vice President of Policy and Research at Demos, Tamara Draut is responsible for developing and advancing the organization’s goals through research, idea generation and policy development. A member of the Demos team since 2001, Tamara developed the organization’s groundbreaking work on household indebtedness, college affordability and the economic challenges facing young people.
Tamara will be in The Hive on Thursday August 3rd at 4:00pm EST for a half-hour chat about the middle class and progressive solutions to economic issues. Submit your questions at any time or join us on Thursday! If you’d like to participate but don’t have TPM Prime, sign up here.