Good Monday morning.
Here is what’s on the President’s agenda today:
- 9:25AM / 2:25AM The president and first lady depart Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa en route to Mäntyniemi residence
- 9:30AM / 2:30AM President Trump and the first lady arrive at the Mäntyniemi residence
- 9:30AM / 2:30AM The president and first lady participate in an official greeting
- 9:40AM / 2:40AM The president attends breakfast with the president of the Republic of Finland
- 10:30AM / 3:30AM President Trump and the first lady participate in the guestbook signing
- 10:40AM / 3:40AM The president and first lady depart Mäntyniemi residence en route to Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa
- 10:45AM / 3:45AM President Trump and the first lady arrive at Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa
- 12:40PM / 5:40AM The president and first lady depart Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa en route to the Presidential Palace
- 1:00PM / 6:00AM President Trump and the first lady arrive at the Presidential Palace
- 1:05PM / 6:05AM The president and first lady participate in the guestbook signing
- 1:10PM / 6:10AM President Trump and the first lady participate in an official greeting
- 1:20PM / 6:20AM The President has a 1:1 bilateral meeting with the president of the Russian Federation
- 2:50PM / 7:50AM President Trump participates in an expanded bilateral meeting and working lunch with the president of the Russian Federation
- 4:50PM / 9:50AM The president has a joint press conference with the president of the Russian Federation
- 6:20PM / 11:20AM President Trump and the first lady depart Helsinki, Finland, en route to Vantaa, Finland
- 6:45PM / 11:45AM The president and first lady arrive at Helsinki Airport
- 6:55PM / 11:55AM President Trump and the first lady depart Vantaa, Finland, en route to Washington, D.C.
- 8:40PM EDT The president and first lady arrive at Joint Base Andrews
- 8:50PM EDT President Trump and the first lady depart Joint Base Andrews en route to the White House
- 9:00PM EDT The president and first lady arrive at the White House
As Trump meets with RUSSIAN Putin, media, #resistance go bananas
Today, the president is in Helsinki, Finland, to meet with RUSSIAN President Putin and everyone is freaking out. The meeting comes on the heels of a conveniently-timed announcement that the Mueller investigation has indicted a posse of RUSSIAN operators for meddling in U.S. elections. Really, how about that timing? Right before Trump meets with Putin. It’s just so wild.
The RUSSIANS probably won’t turn over the indictees for trial, which is too bad since a trial would force the government to reveal what kind of case they have put together, if indeed there is a case, and that this is not just another attempt to undermine Trump. Remember, Mueller indicted a bunch of RUSSIAN entities months ago and was caught off guard when one of the corporations named in the indictments decided to fight back. Now Mueller is forced to show what he has under his belt in a trial or drop the charges, which would be embarrassing, to say the least.
A federal grand jury indicted 12 Russians on Friday for allegedly hacking computer systems of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Campaign Committee, and the Hillary Clinton campaign, then releasing the information. Kremlin officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have denied that they were involved.
Considering the feds never took possession of the DNC’s “hacked” server, it’s amazing they are able to make any claims about how it was “hacked.”
Now, the pressure is on for Trump to confront Putin about the Mueller indictments which changes the dynamics of the meeting that was originally to focus on international issues like arms control, Syria, and Iran. Well-played #resistance. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) joined in. I can’t wait for this guy to leave Congress. “I would ask the president to give some serious consideration, your first request of Vladimir Putin needs to be, ‘Tell us which airport we can pick up the 25 Russians that tried to interfere with the fundamentals of our democracy,'” Gowdy told “Face the Nation” on Sunday. Another reliable never-Trumper, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), also piled on: “I don’t think President Trump should be dignifying Putin with this meeting,” Sasse tweeted, auditioning for an obvious future presidential run.
Expectations are low for the meeting, according to anonymous saboteurs in the State Department. Writes ABC News, “But privately, a State Department official and a source familiar with preparations says summit planning was so rushed that the No. 2s at the major departments — like State, Defense and Treasury — did not convene specifically on this summit through the National Security Council.” Maybe Trump plans to kick back and watch the Gorilla Channel with Putin for 90 minutes? Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), who has himself been a little friendly with the RUSSIAN oligarch Oleg Deripaska, wants more administration officials in the room during the Trump-Putin meeting. CNN’s Brian Stelter (“Tater”) is also concerned about the meeting, saying that Trump cannot be trusted. Editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, says that Trump is “playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin,” even though the meeting hasn’t happened and we don’t know what the result of the meeting will be.
It would be much easier to take these clowns seriously if they were this concerned about RUSSIA when Obama was caught on a hot mic telling then-President Dmitry Medvedev he would have more “flexibility” to work with RUSSIA after the election. Or when Mitt Romney said RUSSIA was the biggest geopolitical threat facing the U.S. and the media and Democrats all made fun of him. Or when Barack Obama let RUSSIA annex Crimea. Or when Barack Obama refused to sell arms to the Ukraine so it could defend itself against RUSSIA.
Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton trolled Trump on Twitter asking him if he knows what “side” he is on.
Great World Cup. Question for President Trump as he meets Putin: Do you know which team you play for?
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 16, 2018
Sit down, Hillary.
Related:
Five key topics that Trump, Putin are expected to discuss in major Helsinki summit
Trump calls the European Union, Russia, and China ‘foes’ of the US
Gowdy says he won’t support Rosenstein impeachment
Trump, Netanyahu talk Syria, Iran ahead of Putin summit
DNC Chair Tom Perez Squirms Away From Questions About Letting FBI Access DNC’s Computers
FUN READ: Establishment Media Has A Twitter Conniption Fit Over Trump’s ‘Enemy Of The People’ Moniker
Police blotter
Three police officers were shot in Kansas City, Missouri, during a firefight with a man wanted for questioning in a murder. The shooter did not survive.
A man wanted for questioning in the murder of a college student shot three police officers in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday during a series of firefights that began at a motel and ended with his death when he bolted from a house with his rifle blazing, authorities said.
The shooting erupted just after noon at a motel in the city where undercover and tactical officers were conducting an investigation into the robbery and killing at a restaurant last week of a 25-year-old University of Missouri-Kansas City student, police said.
The person of interest had been under surveillance for more than a week.
“Our officers then engaged with the person that they were trying to surveil and there was gunfire,” Smith told reporters. “At that point two of our officers were shot.” The officers were treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Meanwhile, over in Boston, an elderly woman and a police officer were shot and killed after the murderer stole the officer’s gun and began firing the weapon.
Weymouth police officer Michael Chensa, 42, was chasing Emmanuel Lopes after Lopes was involved in a car wreck around 7:30 a.m. — when Lopes allegedly bashed Chensa with a stone, sending the officer tumbling to the ground.
Authorities say Lopes then took Chensa’s service weapon and blasted him several times in the head and chest before resuming his flight.
Lopes was caught vandalizing a home when the altercation took place. Officer Chesna was “a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and left behind a wife and two children, ages 4 and 9.”
Over in Chicago, there were protests this weekend after police cam footage was released of a police-involved shooting of a South Side barber. The footage was released less than one day after the shooting took place.
Protesters soon gathered to throw rocks and bottles — and even a bottle of urine — at police. Police responded by pushing their line of officers forward into the group of protesters, leading to bursts of fights that culminated in a violent episode near the end of the night. Officers were seen hitting demonstrators with batons as the crowd scattered through the parking lot of a nearby strip mall.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on Twitter that they released the video “in the interest of transparency & to dispell [sic] inaccurate information.” The officer who shot and killed 37-year-old Harith Augustus had only been on the force for two years and completed his police academy training one year ago.
Related:
Georgia cops use coin flip to decide whether to arrest woman, video shows
Historical picture of the day:
Martha Stewart, flanked by U.S. Marshals, leaves after sentencing at Manhattan federal court, in New York Friday, July 16, 2004. Stewart was sentenced Friday to five months in prison and five months of home confinement for lying about a stock sale. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Other morsels:
SF Mayor Says Her City Is Drowning In Poop: ‘There’s More Feces … Than I’ve Ever Seen’
GOP Volunteers Kicked Out Of Uber As Driver Says ‘Welcome To The Resistance’
Feinstein gets progressive smackdown
Illegal immigrant accused of attacking wife with chainsaw was deported 11 times, officials say
Pussy Riot activists storm field during World Cup match
Paragliding Trump protester arrested
FBI employees’ support for their leadership has decreased, survey shows
Air Force paid about $10G for toilet seat cover: report
And that’s all I’ve got, now go beat back the angry mob!
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