Guess Who Came to Dinner

From NBC NEWS:

WASHINGTON — As federal workers file out of the State Department at the end of a Washington workday, an elite group is often just arriving in the marbled, flag-lined lobby: Billionaire CEOs, Supreme Court justices, political heavyweights and ambassadors arrive in evening attire as they’re escorted by private elevator to dinner with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Until the coronavirus shut them down in March, the gatherings were known as “Madison Dinners” — elaborate, unpublicized affairs that Pompeo and his wife, Susan Pompeo, began in 2018 and held regularly in the historic Diplomatic Reception Rooms on the government’s dime.

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The First Strike

From THE HILL:

Rudy Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas revealed new accusations against President Trump and his administration in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Wednesday night.

They’re just being polite. Rudy Giuliani, Twitler, Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, William Barr, John Bolton, Devin Nunes, Faux News talking asshole John Solomon and evil attorneys Victoria Toensing and Joe DiGenova had better hope Lev was wearing a condom, because he f#¢ked them but good, got the sheets wet and left without leaving any money on the nightstand.

 

Strange things are afoot at the Circle-Ukraine

From Vox:

Ed MacMahon, a lawyer for Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, who faces charges of campaign finance violations, has told the Daily Beast that his client helped Republican Rep. Devin Nunes arrange meetings meant to advance the Ukrainian investigations into the Biden family that are at the center of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Now, another lawyer for Parnas — Joseph A. Bondy — has told CNN that Parnas is willing to testify before the House Intelligence Committee about Nunes’s involvement in the Ukraine scandal.

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Peter Welch, Jim Teacher

From GQ:

On Wednesday, the House Intelligence Committee held its first public hearings for the impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. U.S. diplomat Bill Taylor gave a particularly damning testimony about the president’s efforts to withhold military aid from the Ukrainian president in an attempt to force him to announce a corruption investigation of former vice president Joe Biden. For the most part, Republican lawmakers used it as an opportunity to grandstand: Ohio’s Jim Jordan and California’s Devin Nunes, in particular, made loud efforts to distract from the facts at hand.

 

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Worst AG ever, Barr none

From Yahoo News:

Attorney General William Barr refused Wednesday to turn over his notes on a conversation he had with Robert Mueller during which the special counsel complained about Barr’s summary of his report about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and Donald Trump’s attempts to cover it up.

“No,” Barr responded when asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., if he would provide the Senate Judiciary Committee with the notes he took to document the call with Mueller.

“Why not?” Blumenthal responded.

“Why should you have them?” Barr answered.

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Duncan his toe in the grifter pool

(CNN) Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, routinely — and illegally — used campaign funds to pay personal bills big and small, from luxury vacations to kids’ school lunches and delinquent family dentistry bills, according to a stinging 47-page indictment unsealed Tuesday.

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If you shake hands with Wilbur, count your fingers afterwards

From Forbes:

A multimillion-dollar lawsuit has been quietly making its way through the New York State court system over the last three years, pitting a private equity manager named David Storper against his former boss: Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The pair worked side by side for more than a decade, eventually at the firm, WL Ross & Co.—where, Storper later alleged, Ross stole his interests in a private equity fund, transferred them to himself, then tried to cover it up with bogus paperwork. Two weeks ago, just before the start of a trial with $4 million on the line, Ross and Storper agreed to a confidential settlement, whose existence has never been reported and whose terms remain secret.

It is difficult to imagine the possibility that a man like Ross, who Forbes estimates is worth some $700 million, might steal a few million from one of his business partners. Unless you have heard enough stories about Ross. Two former WL Ross colleagues remember the commerce secretary taking handfuls of Sweet’N Low packets from a nearby restaurant, so he didn’t have to go out and buy some for himself.

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Raid!!!!!

From THINK PROGRESS JUSTICE:

New details are emerging about a potential corruption investigation into Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and his staff after FBI agents this week raided the home of Cindy Archer, who until last month was Walker’s deputy administration secretary. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that authorities last year launched a secret “John Doe investigation” into Walker’s time as Milwaukee County executive, looking into allegations that county staffers did political work while at work, and thus on the taxpayers’ dime.

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