Headlines

Top fugitive in Rwanda’s genocide arrested outside of Paris

Trump may restore some WHO funding after widespread criticism, but no final decision made yet

CDC: 100,000 dead by June ...

Clapper: I don’t recall what prompted unmasking request

Trump praises rapid coronavirus test despite FDA warning

Coronavirus live updates: Grocery shopping is evolving, NY race tracks reopening

Navajo Nation residents to be under strictest lockdown yet ...

Report: Amb. Marie Yovanovich had more extensive contact with Burisma than she admitted to impeachment inquiry

Trump names team to develop coronavirus vaccine at ‘Warp Speed’

House Democrats pass $3 trillion coronavirus relief package

Fed: Financial system under severe strain ...

Hollywood sees mass carnage as unemployment hits entertainment industry

Headlines

John Kelly defends Vindman: ‘He did exactly what we teach them to do.’

Coronavirus live updates: Princess Cruises passengers allowed to leave ship, global cases soar

US military preparing for pandemic ...

Sanders: James Carville ‘is political hack’

Pentagon set to back Haiwei restrictions

Miami Herald parent McClatchy files for bankruptcy protection

Beijing admits 15,152 new virus cases ...

Marie Yovanovich: ‘The State Department is in trouble’

Republicans boycott House Intel hearings

US underlying consumer prices rise in January

Records smashed! Bezos buys Geffen estate for $162,000,000.00

Record GOP turnout a ‘warning sign for Democrats in 2020’

Dueling Conspiracies (Part 3)

Parnas and Giuliani

Stayed up last night to watch more Lev Parnas on the Rachael Maddow Show. Her interview only made this whole Ukrainian farce even murkier. Here are a few takeaways:

- Rudy Giuliani has lost a lot off of his fastball to have trusted this man who, at the drop of an indictment, switched sides. The motto of the Ukraine must be “duplicity” ... for everyone there seems infected. Rudy once knew how to handle the New York mafia. But they were pikers next to the Ukrainians.

- My guess was that Parnas was lying about every third utterance. But, like any good liar, he said enough credible things to be convincing. He clearly was playing to the prosecutors in the Southern District of New York for leniency in his money laundering and illegal political contributions charges,

- It is very doubtful that Ambassador Marie Yovanovich was ever in any physical jeopardy. Maddow neglected to mention that she was recalled the very night before Zelensky was inaugurated as the Ukraine’s new president. This obviously was significant.

- Parnas did say ... believably, and because of dirt supplied by him ... that Trump tried to fire Ambassador Yovanovich a number of times only to be thwarted by the Deep State at the State Department. How Trump has prevailed in all that he has accomplished ... against the entrenched bureaucracy, disinclined to even get him a cup of coffee ... tells me he is a remarkable manager.

- Last observation: If the Senate calls witnesses like Parnas and opens up this whole Ukraine corruption can of worms, Trump’s impeachment trial will last at least until June ... in order to sort through all this bleep.

Dueling Conspiracies

My liberal lunch buddies asked me today that, if Trump, or Giuliani as directed by Trump, wanted to have former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovich killed, would I be in favor of removing Trump from office? My answer, “Of course.”

Where did this newest Trump-derangement conspiracy theory come from? Apparently, all my lib friends have already totally swallowed this bait, hook, sinker, line, reel and rod. So I am forced to try to plumb the web to find any possible facts behind this newest mudball. (Has anyone noticed that the syncopated timing of these anti-Trump revelations from Adam Schiff ... drip, drip, drip ... to me, seems very suspicious and conspiratorial.)

I first went to the Snopes truth-tellers site ... see: Snopes Discussion ... nothing but a bland, biased AP  story. Next I emailed my lunch buddies for help and got back these three references: The Hill, The Intercept and Palmer Report ... all of which I read (with difficulty). And, in order to follow this discourse, I’m afraid you should too.

The key player in this melodrama is an Ukrainian named Lev Parnas. Above is a snippet from his interview with Rachael Maddow. I didn’t know to watch the whole thing ... but a lunch buddy did and here are his comments:

Just saw Rachael Madow interview with Lev Parnas.  He implicates Giuliani, Trump, Pence and even Barr in the circle of conspirators who were trying to get Zelinski to open a Biden investigation.  No explanation for why Ukraine never made the desired announcement. 

As for the Ambassador, Parnas apologized  to Ambassador Yovanovich for his role in getting her fired for blocking the Biden probe. Important to note:  Parnas says the Hyde threats were never taken seriously, as Hyde was "constantly drunk."Thus he discredits the report that she was in danger.

His reason for singing now:  He is under indictment for improper campaign contributions.  Maybe he hopes cooperating in this affair will help him get an easier sentence.  He implies that the more info becomes known, the safer he will be.  (Think Epstein).

Except for suggesting that Trump would kill Parnnas, pretty fair minded. More in another post.

Headlines

Democrats vow court fight to block new N.C. Congressional map

Obama warns Democrats against going too far left: ‘We have to be rooted in reality’

San Diego shooting leaves 5 dead, including 3 children ...

Yovanovich admits to having no information on criminal activity

Trump to begin new round of trade-aid payments to farmers

Robocalls hit record levels as phone companies, lawmakers and start-ups fight back

Protests erupt in Iran after gasoline price hicks ...

Dem impeachment probe tries to paint [Ukrainian pres.] Zelensky a liar to fuel  agenda

Pence aide testifies that Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine were ‘inappropriate’

This under-the-radar market trend suggests new highs through December

Chinese soldiers take to Hong Kong streets ...

AG William Barr accuses Democrats of ‘sabotaging’ Trump

Due Process

I briefly wrote about former Ambassador to the Ukraine, Marie Yovanovich before ... see: Marie Yovanovich ... who testified recently in the House Intelligence committee’s impeachment inquiry hearings. ... chaired by Rep. Adam Schiff. This woman’s testimony reminded me a lot of Christine Blasey Ford’s performance in the Kavanaugh hearings — little girl voice, evasive answers to tough questions, sexist sympathy evoking.

President Trump tweeted during this hearing that everywhere Yovanovich was posted during her career, Somalia to the Ukraine, it ended up “bad.” This tweet was hardly witness intimidation, as claimed, because it was only after Adam Schiff read it during the hearing that Yovanovich knew about it.

Marie Yovanovich, under oath, said that the Ukraine had nothing to do with 2016 Trump election interference (see: CrowdStrike) ... she said it was only Russia that did this. If Chairman Schiff would allow Republicans to call their witnesses, perhaps this questionable claim could be refuted and the ambassador’s credibility shattered.

Unfortunately this won’t happen in the House. Perhaps, if Trump is impeached and tried in the Senate, it will?

Headlines

Schiff accuses Trump of ‘witness intimidation’ for twitter attack on Yovanovich

Dow jumps more than 200 points to 28,000, posts 4-week winning streak

Roger Stone guilty on all 7 counts in federal trial ...

Dems build case for making diplomats sad?

Trump fires back at claims he’s intimidating witnesses, ‘I have the right to speak’

Trump, Apple CEO Tim Cook set to tour computer plant in Texas Wednesday

Brennan warns Trump: ‘May your downfall be swift’ ...

Marie Yovanovich compares herself to diplomats killed in Benghazi

Twitter rolls out total ban on ads from political figures

Fed cautious about debt, liquidity issues, but says system is stable otherwise

Kissinger warns of ‘catastrophic’ conflicts between China, U.S. ...

U.S. industrial production slumped again in October

The Real Russian Collusion (Updated)

Why was our Ambassador Marie Yovanovich recalled by Trump the very night before the new reform Ukrainian President Zelensky was inaugurated?

Could it be that Yovanovich had been too close to the former corrupt Ukrainian President Poroshenko and seemed to be a pebble in the shoe of any future U.S.-Ukraine relations ... working against Trump and his attempt to get to the root of the previous Biden-Burisma corruption and 2016 U.S. election-meddling fraud? Could it be that Zelensky didn’t want her to attend his inauguration and that is why she was told to get on “the next plane?”

Obviously I don’t know this for sure, but such timing cannot be coincidental ... and it is revealing that, if this nexus got out, it would not be beneficial to either country.

But Zelensky clearly favors Trump over Obama ... see: Washington Exanimer Story. After all, Obama and his Ambassador Yovanovich were hostile ... and had favored the Russians ... and I surmise were colluding with them (evidence: no Obama arms assistance to the Ukraine, nor any real pushback when Russia annexed the Crimea. Also don’t forget Obama saying to Medvedev on a hot mic to tell Putin that “After my election I’ll have more flexibility” (see below). That was in 2012 ... Russia annexed Crimea in early 2014.

Like most Democrat accusations, too often, they themselves are doing what they are accusing  ...

Insidious!

Headlines

Pompeo hits Iran in IAEA inspector, amplifies claim of undeclared nuclear materials

ETF inflows rise to a record $4 trillion and top industry expert says it’s still ‘early days’

Bannon testifies Stone was campaign link to Wikileaks ...

Nikki Haley on Trump-Ukraine call: ‘There’s just nothing there’

Trump says Gabbard was let off easy on Russian accusations

How 3-D printing is transforming the $12 trillion manufacturing industry worldwide

Assange may soon die in prison, father warns ...

Report: Impeachment witness Yovanovich caught in apparent lie

Trump says he won’t campaign against Sessions in Senate run

Biden allies worry Bloomberg candidacy could cinch the nomination for Elizabeth Warren

One-percenters close to surpassing wealth of middle class ...

Nolte: Gallup survey shows GOP tops Democrats in 2020 voter enthusiasm

Marie Yovanovich

First read: Her Opening Schiff Statement. Does she protest too much?

Trump recalling Ambassador Yovanovich, who had been hostile to him and was working against his foreign policy toward the Ukraine, is obviously an impeachable offense. 

How dare the president revoke those former corrupt policies which had been finagled by Biden and Obama’s august administrative state!

There is obviously a lot more to this story. I suspect, if Trump is formally impeached, we will learn what is what with this woman.