Judge Ellis let the Manafort jurors go home at 5pm, because one of them had an evening engagement…
Great guy, barely know him, terrific individual https://t.co/jPW1muaft6
— Rebecca Ingber (@becingber) August 17, 2018
Meanwhile, looks like this is the next guy up:
SCOOP via @CarolLeonnig @devlinbarrett @nakashimae @jdawsey1 ->
GOP fundraiser Broidy under investigation for alleged effort to sell government influence, people familiar with probe say https://t.co/ihfVXnyhW7
— Matea Gold (@mateagold) August 17, 2018
The Justice Department is investigating whether longtime Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy sought to sell his influence with the Trump administration by offering to deliver U.S. government actions for foreign officials in exchange for tens of millions of dollars, according to three people familiar with the probe.
As part of the investigation, prosecutors are scrutinizing a plan that Broidy allegedly developed to try to persuade the Trump government to extradite a Chinese dissident back to his home country, a move sought by Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to two of the people.
They are also investigating claims that Broidy sought $75 million from a Malaysian business official if the Justice Department ended its investigation of a development fund run by the Malaysian government. The Malaysian probe has examined the role of the former prime minister in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from the fund…
As part of their efforts, prosecutors have subpoenaed casino magnate Steve Wynn, the former RNC finance chairman and longtime Trump friend, for copies of records and communications related to Broidy.
An attorney for Wynn, Reid Weingarten, declined to comment, saying only that Wynn is cooperating with the Justice Department.
“Steve Wynn is completely cooperating with the investigation and he certainly has no reason to believe that anyone acted improperly in anything he knew about or was involved in,” Weingarten said in a statement…
Yes, these links have been reported before (read the whole thing!), but if the Justice Department is officially looking into the details of transactions between high-ranking Chinese officials, Malaysian businessmen with grift-friendly reputations, and big-time American casino operators looking to set up business in Hong Kong / Singapore / Shanghai… things are about to get UUUUUUGHHLY.
(And that’s not even considering the Saudi finance connection, FWIW.)
*two weeks later* "We never said anything about what his security firm, consulting firm, real estate holding company, and personal loan-out may or may not have agreed to." https://t.co/ASfnMV3phb
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) August 18, 2018
jl
OK, is this official yet? Should I add Singapore and Malaysia to the list of the committee of sovereigns running the country? I for one welcome all of our new overlords. But, jeesh, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel…. its getting hard keeping them all straight.
I’ll go see if the WH website has a list of sovereign sponsors up.
NotMax
Broidy has fingers in so many pies one concludes he’s numerically armed like Doc Ock.
Cheryl Rofer
Three financial officers of the Republican Party are being investigated for fraud, money laundering, and probably a half-dozen other things. The Grand Old Party.
Omnes Omnibus
@jl: It’s been Amir all along. That rat bastard!
Platonailedit
@Cheryl Rofer:
gop – gangrene of pestilence
Gin & Tonic
Since I just got back from a wonderful afternoon/evening out with the lovely Mrs G&T, I’m just getting caught up, and want to point out an error of Adam’s in the likely-dead thread downstairs. Artem Klyushin’s tweet at 7:13 am July 24 was not, as Adam says, 9:15 pm in the US, it was in fact 00:13 of July 24 – IOW just past midnight from the 23rd to the 24th. So Klyushin would have had way less time than Adam implies, if SHS made her comments on the afternoon of July 23. At the time she made her comments, it would have been close to bedtime for Klyushin, who then posted his Tweet at 7:13 am. Maybe he didn’t sleep much, digesting the press coverage. Or maybe he already knew. But Adam’s proposed timeline is significantly altered if you use the correct time zone modifications. As I’m in regular contact with people in Eastern Europe and the FSU, I need to know who’s up when, so this is kind of second nature.
Adam, if you’re in this thread, sorry for dragging the item here, but I thought it needed to be pointed out.
jl
@Omnes Omnibus: He’s always so calm…. too calm…Now we know why.
But, in the spirit of the Trump age, we should ask if we can get some special deals. I’d like to have my own island. Tropical island. Lots of hot chicks, pretty birds, tropical drinks, nice beaches and no mosquitoes.
Adam L Silverman
@jl: Don’t forget Pocoponesia!
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: Have any of us seen Amir in the flesh? Can we state with confidence he’s not Fat Leonard?
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: If this is looking into casinos in parts of SE and East Asia, then Adelson will be in for new scrutiny.
Alexa!!! Order all the kosher popcorn bivakesha!
Platonailedit
@jl: 1MDB!!!
Omnes Omnibus
@jl: Indeed.
@Gin & Tonic: Important questions.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: No worries. I did a timezone check and was sure I’d gotten it right. I’ll go back and make a correction. Thanks for catching that. I still don’t think it changes things though. The information was released in the US and reported on widely well before he tweeted about it.
rikyrah
@Cheryl Rofer:
What is these were three Finance Chairman of the Democratic Party?
Uh huh ? ?
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
Fat Leonard is from Penang. I’m a KL guy, plus I’m not fat.
clay
Question for the law-knower guys/gals:
Why is the Manafort jury not sequestered? Or is that a thing that only happens in movies?
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: So you say…
Adam L Silverman
@clay: Because Judge Ellis appears to be having a breakdown.
jl
@Amir Khalid: Hi Amir. We are outraged that your country seems to be in on the sinister cabal running Trump and through him, our country.
On the other hand, are you in on it? And can you get us in on some special deals?
Amir Khalid
Still, corrupting one US Navy admiral in every three like Fat Leonard did is no small feat.
rk
Trump’s friends all look like a cross between pigs and humans.
Amir Khalid
@jl:
I’ll have to think about it, Admiral.
NotMax
@clay
IANAL.
It’s more rare than the movies/TV would lead one to believe. Sequestration doesn’t necessarily translate to the jury spending those additional hours deliberating in the jury room.
Also additionally disruptive of the lives of the jurors, who may have family or other obligations to be seen to.
In theory, as the jurors names have not been released, they maintain a veneer of anonymity while out and about.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Adam L Silverman: i’ve been wondering how much of a factor Ellis’s heavy-handed approach was in the defense’s decision to not present a case, to deny him the chance to slap them around, especially if they had the sense that Ellis was hearing blowback about his conduct during the prosecution’s presentation and were afraid the judge would feel compelled to attempt to even things out
thalarctosMaritimus
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it?
Platonailedit
I am with her.
Gvg
Offering to get a dissident extradited to a repressive country for money is sick. Flynn was accused of it too. These people have no morals.
Cheryl Rofer
@rikyrah:
Major Major Major Major
Gettin real sick of waiting for this jury. Really straining the limits of my ability to not worry about something I can’t control…
Chetan Murthy
@Gvg: Well, OTOH, if someone who arguably doesn’t abide by the laws of his host country (e.g. Omar Bakri Muhammad) gets extradited, I have difficulty feeling sad for them. OTOH, Fethullah Gulen seems to have been singuarly law-abiding in the US. AFAICT.
Brachiator
Quick bit of movie trivia. Apparently the new film “Crazy Rich Asians” features a few Malaysian locations. For example,
Don’t know if Amir is a background extra in any scenes. ;)
Cheryl Rofer
@clay: IANAL, but I saw someone (Popehat?) on Twitter complaining that they probably should be sequestered. Seems to be up to the judge.
Platonailedit
Duane
@Cheryl Rofer: It is amazing to watch the GOP (GREEDY OLD PRICKS) operate as a true criminal enterprise. Historic really. Too much of it to keep up.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: My understanding is that it is not unusual for the defense to just rest rather than open their witnesses, including the defendant/defendants, up to cross-examination by the prosecution that they can’t control.
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
As real lawyers here have opined, the defense’s resting as they did was pretty much expected and SOP for competent counsel.
People who harp on the judge’s verbiage directed at the prosecution as indicative of some sort of one-sidedness are quick to forget the same judge’s rapid denials of the defense’s numerous motions for delay or dismissal and the text of those decisions to do so.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: why would we want to listen to real lawyers? Especially the ones here??
El Caganer
@NotMax: Well, somebody’s got to put them in there.. Trump’s are too small.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Major Major Major Major: IANAL but I think the order of likely outcomes is 1) convicted on some but not all charges– the outcome I’d bet on 2) a hung jury– I’ll pull 20% chance out of my ass 3) convicted on all counts– 10% chance, same methodology 4) acquitted on all counts, 2%
hedgehog mobile
Evening jackals. Reading only occasionally this week; the mr. and I are at Worldcon in San Jose. Enjoying the break from reality…..
Cheryl Rofer
I’m not clear on the backstory to this, but it’s a Balloon Juice kind of thing.
Corner Stone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Ummm…what the hell else you got stashed in there? I see people here proudly proclaim they anal but I didn’t know it was like a smuggler’s paradise kind of thing.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
The younger generation. *
sigh
*It’s been all of 2 days. Microwave popcorn take too long for you too?
:)
There are 18 separate charges they have to individually discuss and then decide upon. Expecting a lightning turnaround time is unrealistic.
Omnes Omnibus
@Major Major Major Major: Many of us are drunk?
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I gave up trying to predict things around January 2017. I was obviously not doing a very good job…
Corner Stone
@jl:
Hate to burst your bubble but hot chicks don’t just appear on tropical islands. It takes kesh, bundles of kesh to get them there. We’re talking kesh.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: I use a Whirley Pop which takes precisely the right amount of time.
Platonailedit
Jim, Foolish Literalist
many strong opinions on complicated subjects about which I’ve read the headlines, and sometimes even the first paragraphs, of articles on the internets
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: You’re gonna have to start treating Amir better.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
Q: How many Trumps does it take to make Jiffy Pop?
A: Five. One to hold the pan and four to shake the stove.
Platonailedit
NotMax
@Platonailedit
Voice 1: “String him up!”
Voice 2: “Anybody got any string?”
Voice 3: “Lynch him!”
Voice 2: “Anybody got any lynch?”
– Firesign Theater
/couldn’t resist
Platonailedit
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
The Carcosa was originally the British High Commissioner’s official residence, built in 1897 on a hilltop in KL. (The High Commissioner was then the head of the colonial government in the federated states of Malaya, and nowadays is Britain’s ambassador here.) Upon independence in 1957. the property was gifted to Britain. The Malaysian Government under PM Dr Mahathir took it back in 1987 — Dr M was then in one of his anti-West snits — and turned it into a posh boutique hotel, which it still is. It was also used as a guest residence for Queen Elizabeth II on her official visit in the 1990s.
I’ve been there a few times for one corporate event or another, but it’s not really my kind of place.
Corner Stone
I’m sure this is somehow an innovative, groundbreaking advancement for all mankind. And not a problem at all.
USAToday
Tesla whistleblower claims rampant theft, drug dealing at Nevada Gigafactory
#BeBess
Pogonip
In some time zones it’s about over, but in any case, I wish my fellow Americans, black cats and their owners, a hapoy National Black Cat Appreciation Day.
Major Major Major Major
@Pogonip: happy black cat appreciation day to you too! And don’t worry, most of those time zones are lame.
Amir Khalid
@Pogonip:
Bianca’s a black cat too.
Jayb
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
If sure, you should bet big. Bookies have a non-conviction a 2/7,
NotMax
Making a loaf of corn rye in the super duper bread machine. Dough was on the dry side when I checked (it’s a hot day). Rather than splashing in a couple of teaspoons of water, decided on the spur of the moment to try using vodka.
Cross your fingers for me.
clay
@Cheryl Rofer: Didn’t a judge rule that Trump wasn’t allowed to block anyone on Twitter? I hope that kitty sues him. The pussy grabs back!
NotMax
Oh, almost forgot –
Happy Admission Day!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
So the Greeks own us too?
patrick II
I guess I have become too cynical, but I was surprised that an investigation into Broidy is being initiated out of a non-special counsel part of a Jeff Sessions Justice Department. The professionals in Justice should be commended.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Corner Stone:
Noooooooo!!!!!!
Firebert
Ethan Hawke interviews Beto O’Rourke for the Austin Chronicle. Probably triggering the Liberal Hipster Singularity.
Another Scott
@Gin & Tonic: Twitter time stamps are weird. The times shown are for California. It took me a while to realize that.
At the moment, California is 10 hours ahead of Moscow. DC is 3 hours ahead of California.
…
I’ll let someone else figure out if that changes any of the posted calculations – it’s too late in the day for me. :-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Adam L Silverman
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Look it up.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: That’s what messed me up. I did the calculations based on EDT and Moscow time.
Suzanne
@Major Major Major Major: Scoutie is making sure I appreciate her as I type this comment. I hope all of BJ appreciates my little purrbox.
smike
@Firebert:
And liberals of all stripes need to be triggered right about now. Would that Beto could do that. I’ve seen him up close and he is impressive.
Liberal Hipster Singularity is, but the way, a great band name.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott:
I’m not sure about this case, but that’s not always the case. I’ve seen time stamps for someone on the east coast with a time that hasn’t occurred there and certainly not here in California. I don’t use Twitter, so I don’t know if you have some kind of option of which timezone the timestamp comes from.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Admission Day’s not for a few weeks.
burnspbesq
@jl:
Amir will hook you up as soon as he has “appropriated” enough cash to buy Liverpool Football Club and the Strat Clapton played on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Ahem.
Third Friday of the month in HI.
Viva BrisVegas
@Platonailedit:
To be fair to Trump Snr, he also cheated on the girlfriends with whom he was cheating on his wives.
He is consistent in his skankiness.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: September 9, here in the Golden State.
Villago Delenda Est
Donald’s major problem: he can’t fake sincerity.
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
It’s kinda scary that you and I had the same thought.
Apologies in advance if that makes you consider harming yourself.
WaterGirl
@Firebert: Great interview!
Central Planning
@Adam L Silverman: “Don’t forget Pocoponesia!”
Was that a Tick reference?