Good Tuesday morning.
Here is what’s on President Trump’s agenda today:
- The president participates in a signing ceremony for an executive order on a “National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End Veteran Suicide”
Fusion GPS dossier honcho canoodling with State Department folk during 2016 campaign
From Chuck Ross at The Daily Caller:
Emails obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation show that Glenn Simpson, an executive at Fusion GPS, contacted Jonathan Winer, who then served as State’s special envoy for Libya, on Sept. 19 and Sept. 22, 2016. That was days ahead of the publication of a Yahoo! News article that was the first story to cite information gathered by Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the dossier.
Winer was a source for Michael Isikoff’s pre-election, blockbuster article about Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page and his disputed contacts with two RUSSIANS. Winer was used by Isikoff to support the allegations in the dossier, but it looks like Winer’s information came from the dossier he was supposed to be verifying. Basically we have an M.C. Escher drawing paradigm for verifying information in the salacious and unverified Fusion muck. No evidence has surfaced showing Page had contact with the two RUSSIANS, Igor Sechin and Igor Diveykin.
Foreign agent Christopher Steele backs out of conference appearance
Dossier author and foreign agent who influenced our 2016 election with his garbage dossier, Christopher Steele, has backed out of an appearance at a conference in Baltimore next week.
The planned appearance-by-video on March 14, would have been Steele’s first public appearance since the dossier was first published in January 2017 by BuzzFeed, according to Politico.
The former MI6 officer was set to speak about “disinformation” at the “Reawakening the Spirit of Democracy Conference” on a panel moderated by Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum, Politico reported.
That’s too bad because Steele is quite competent to speak about “disinformation.” Apparently, Steele got “cold feet.”
Related:
Mueller tells judge of new Roger Stone post on Instagram
Why on earth would he recuse? Barr won’t recuse himself from Mueller oversight
Ask Christopher Steele Accused Russian Troll Farm Literally Tells Mueller They Don’t Know What ‘Improper Foreign Influence’ Means
Lawsuit: Trump associate Sater hacked celebrity information
Lawyer for Cohen raised pardon with Trump attorneys following FBI raid: report
Must watch from Tucker Carlson’s show last night: Cat blog BuzzFeed still believes in its ‘bombshell’ report about Michael Cohen
Fired FBI Director James “the redeemer” Comey writes an op-ed
Where else but in the Washington Post? Comey’s screed is titled “Republicans are wrong. Transparency is possible in the Mueller investigation.”
Everyone loves to remind us how James Comey, along with some of the other disgraced malefactors in the deep state, is a Republican, as if that negates or gives their bad behavior any sway. No thanks.
Is there any doubt Comey is a megalomaniac? Has anyone asked him to weigh in with his preening and self-righteous finger-wagging on what should happen with the Mueller report?
But Republicans are wrong now, when they claim Justice Department rules forbid transparency about the completed work of the special counsel. It is difficult to imagine a case of greater public interest than one focused on the efforts of a foreign adversary to damage our democracy, and in which the president of the United States is a subject. I don’t know all the considerations that will go into deciding precisely what to say about the completion of the special counsel’s work and when to say it. It’s always important to consider guidelines and routines. But don’t listen to those who tell you transparency is impossible. Every American should want a Justice Department guided first and always by the public interest. Sometimes transparency is not a hard call.
Blah blah blah. Lordy.
Witch hunt roundup
House Dems demand documents on Trump’s communications with Putin
Nadler launches expansive Trump probe says, ‘we have to make sure this is not a dictatorship’
Rest in peace, Luke Perry
What a devastating loss, especially for us GenXers. Perry, 52, passed away from complications of a stroke. If you think 52 is too young to die from a stroke, it’s not.
[Salman Azhar, director of stroke at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City] said younger and middle-age patients can suffer more intense pressure from swelling following a stroke because the brain shrinks as we age. Younger adults often have less space available to alleviate pressure.
“Swelling happens after every stroke,” Azhar said. “That leads to shifting of brain compartments, leading to more brain damage and eventually death.”
Rest in peace, Luke.
Mystery lottery winner comes forward
Were you wondering if I would be here to do the Briefing today after I claimed my big lottery cash money? Well, I’m sad to report that I am not the winner. The lucky winner waited an awfully long time before claiming their $1.5 billion prize and they have chosen to remain anonymous. You can’t really blame the winner for wanting stay in the shadows with all the lunatics running around looking to stir up some trouble. Am I the only one who has gamed out a large lottery win? The winner has chosen to take the lump sum, which works out to be a cool $880 million. That’s a lot of donuts.
Historical picture of the day:

Comedy actor John Belushi, 33, died on March 5, 1982, in Los Angeles, according to a public relations firm. Pictured in this undated photo portraying a Chicago newspaper reporter in his film “Continental Divide”, Belushi was probably most well known for his part in the NBC comedy series “Saturday Night Live.” (AP Photo)
Other morsels:
WOMP WOMP Hillary Clinton rules out 2020 run, but says ‘I’m not going anywhere’
Important. North Korea hackers targeting US ‘critical infrastructure,’ cybersecurity firm says
Rand Paul says ‘at least’ 10 GOP senators are ready to vote against Trump’s emergency declaration
California: Pulling federal high-speed rail funds would be ‘disastrous’
Horrifying. World Wildlife Fund’s Security Forces Commit Rampant Abuse Against African Villagers
Alleged Berkeley Assault Victim Says He’s Not Discouraged And Will Continue To Promote Conservatism
YASSS QUEEN Ocasio-Cortez’s mom moved to Florida to escape NYC’s property taxes
Second person in history reportedly cured of HIV
Ben Carson to leave the Trump administration after first term
Study finds no link between vaccines, autism
80 arrests made during Sacramento police shooting protest
YIKES. 2-year-old girl diagnosed with rare ovarian cancer
And that’s all I have, now go beat back the angry mob!