Cheddar Cheese mafia

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sorta whimsical, see WISC 2

prompted a bit by cronon sussing out alec

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WHY DID WALKER BAIL IN 2016? JOHN DOE? BUTINA?

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NEW

https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/the-bizarre-link-between-wisconsin-and-russia/

no lnx

Daily Kos Staff / Daily Kos April 22, 2019

The Mueller Report had plenty of information as to how Russians worked to subvert our elections and gained influence in our current US government. But what jumps out to me is how much of that story and related Russian affairs connected back to Wisconsin.

Our state appears in the Mueller Report as one of a handful in the Midwest that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort passed information about to a Russian intelligence agent. The report indicates that this was done to tell the Russians the best way to boost Trump’s chances in those states.

View image on Twitter

Bob Cesca

@bobcesca_go

Jesus! Mueller: "Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota" were discussed between Manafort and GRU operative Kilimnik.

7,595

9:01 AM - Apr 18, 2019

And you may recall that Trump did surprisingly well in all of those states in November 2016. Funny, that.

One of the biggest assists Trump got was in the form of a record investment by the National Rifle Association. Keep that NRA support in mind when you hear about this story from Friday night.

Maria Butina, who has admitted to working as a Russian agent to infiltrate an influential U.S. gun rights group and make inroads with conservative activists and Republicans, asked the court to sentence her to time served ahead of her April 26 sentencing, according to court documents.

Butina, 30, a former graduate student at American University who publicly advocated for gun rights, pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiring to act as a foreign agent for Russia. She has remained in custody since her arrest in July 2018.

Prosecutors filed a memo on Friday ahead of this week’s sentencing. And check out this segment of that report, which might be familiar to you.

Soon after [Butina] drafted the Diplomacy Project proposal, in April 2015, she traveled to the United States to attend the Gun Rights Organization (aka the NRA) annual meetings with the Russian Official, where she highlighted her experience as a gun-rights advocate in Russia and was introduced to influential members of Political Party 1, one of whom announced his Presidential campaign shortly thereafter. Statement of Offense at 3. She did so in furtherance of the conspiracy’s goal to establish the back channel of communication as laid out in the Diplomacy Project. Id. at 3. Butina attended this announcement event in July 2015 and, after being tasked by the Russian Official to do so, wrote a report to him in which she emphasized the fact that she was introduced to one of that candidate’s three advisors for matters concerning international politics. A copy of the Twitter chats, along with the report, is attached hereto as Exhibit 4. According to her notes from a meeting with then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in May 2015, she said she would “send the name of the advisor [to the candidate whose announcement event she later attended] who can come to Moscow.”

Looks like those Twitter chats will be released when the Butina file is redacted, likely after the sentencing happens on Friday.

But who was this candidate that Butina and Putin-appointed central banker Alexander Torshin met up with, and whose presidential announcement event did she go to in July 2015?

After Walker washed out of the 2016 election race, the sentencing memo describes how Butina organized a meeting with the NRA back home in Mother Russia.

In December 2015, Butina invited powerful members of the Gun Rights Organization to Moscow as part of the conspiracy’s plan to establish the unofficial channel of communication. Statement of Offense at 3. She actively sought out meetings for this group with high-level Russian government officials, as arranged by the Russian Official. Id. As part of this endeavor, the defendant sought information from U.S. Person 1 about the degree of political influence held by the Gun Rights Organization members in the United States and stressed the need for a “political program” as part of the Gun Rights Organization trip to Moscow. Id. at 3-4.

Following the Gun Rights Organization trip to Moscow, the defendant and the Russian Official discussed the need to “hold the spot” now that “everyone has realized that [the Gun Rights Organization] is a valuable contact,” and she noted that there will be “attempts to seize the initiative.” Exhibit 2. Butina has since confirmed that she was worried about others within the Russian government or a political group or activist noticing that the contacts she had built with the Gun Rights Organization were valuable and cutting her and the Russian Official out of the loop. Just days later, Butina noted to the Russian Official that they would “quietly press” or “put pressure on [members of the Gun Rights Organization] later.”

Guess who was in Russia in December 2015?

View image on Twitter

David A. Clarke, Jr.

@SheriffClarke

Red Square near the Kremlin with a Russian officer. Met earlier with Russian Foreign Minister who spoke on Mid East.

1,078

11:42 AM - Dec 10, 2015

Also don’t forget that a couple of Wisconsin politicians knew about these Russian efforts before the 2016 election, but hid it from unsuspecting Wisconsin voters.In late Summer 2016, President Obama organized a “Gang of 12” to let them know about potential Russian hacking and interference, and 2 of the members of that meeting were then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Senate Homeland Security Chair Ron Johnson. That meeting that was kept from public knowledge before the elections after complaints from Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.

I’ve referenced this Bruce Murphy article in Urban Milwaukee from January 2017 in the past, and that’s because it continues to link back to developments in the Trump-GOP-Russia connection. It also points to Johnson being complicit in keeping Wisconsinites from knowing about the Russian garbage that was being sent to their computers, and flat-out lying later on about what intelligence agencies told him.

Russia’s interference with the American elections fit the pattern of a country engaged in disinformation and destabilization efforts across the globe, as Johnson has described it. And Russia’s leader was someone Johnson already suspected of nefarious acts. Johnson had previously sponsored resolutions calling for a full investigation into the murder of a Russian political opposition leader and for an investigation of Russia’s attacks on the Ukraine.

Johnson, in short, had an opportunity to be a patriot and condemn the fact that Russia was now engaged in such activities in the United States. But he issued no resolutions — in fact, not one word — on Russian’s cyber attacks on America.

Worse, he has engaged in his own pattern of misinformation on the subject. After the CIA publicly released a report in January concluding that Russia meddled in the presidential election to help Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election, Johnson issued a statement to the Wisconsin State Journal saying he would “would need more definitive information before drawing further conclusions.” Johnson did not reveal that he had been informed back in September this was happening.

Johnson went on to complain to CNBC that the CIA refused to brief him on Russian hacking, saying “I have not seen the evidence that it actually was Russia,” while failing to note the CIA report’s echoed the briefing he’d received from other intelligence leaders in September.

In addition, Ron Johnson was 1 of several GOP Senators who decided last year’s US Independence Day was a great time…to visit the Russians.

Sounds like investigative media might want to ask some questions of these Sconnie Republicans, why many seem to have no problem hanging out with high-level Russian officials, and ask what’s being done to prevent Wisconsinites from being targeted and propagandized against in 2020. The (non)-answers they give might be quiteilluminating.

I’d also like to see Walker, Clarke, Paul Ryan, ex-Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (named several times in the Mueller Report) andRon Johnson go before Congress and answer some pointed questions in the coming months. They have a lot to answer for in how they’ve allowed our democracy to be threatened over the last few years, and why they don’t seem too willing to do much about it.

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fuckery

alternet- 2 24 no lnx

Wisconsin Ethics Commission recommends felony charges for Trump fundraising committee

Alex Henderson

February 23, 2024

Wisconsin is one of the key battleground states where President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will need to campaign extra hard if 2024 brings, as expected, a Biden/Trump rematch. If Trump is the nominee, the Biden campaign will no doubt be reminding Wisconsin voters of all the legal problems the GOP presidential frontrunner is facing — legal problems that may have become even more complicated now that the bipartisan Wisconsin Ethics Commission is recommending criminal charges against the Trump-associated Save America Joint Fundraising Committee.

The Washington Post's Patrick Marley reports that the Ethics Commission has "found probable cause that Trump's Save America committee and several state and local Republican officials committed felonies and recommended several district attorneys investigate and prosecute them, according to records released Friday, (February 23)."

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission, according to Marley, alleges that Save America was involved in "a scheme that they say was meant to circumvent campaign finance laws to take out a powerful GOP lawmaker who has turned against Trump."

READ MORE:Ex-federal prosecutor: Why 'criticism' of Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump 'lacks merit'

Marley reports, "The (Ethics) Commission's investigation centers on the 2022 primary race between Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, one of the most powerful Republicans in Wisconsin, and Adam Steen, a political newcomer who embraced Trump…. The Commission alleges Steen, Steen's campaign and three county Republican parties arranged to sidestep campaign finance laws by having donors give money to one of the county parties, which would then steer it to Steen's campaign or his vendors, according to the records released Friday.

READ MORE: Trump wants daughter-in-law to co-chair RNC — but 'didn’t even like her' for 'many years'

Read the Washington Post's full report at this link (subscription required).

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11/18 ding dong chedder mafia dead; wonder what kind of pension plan gig, koch think thank?

But deeper than that: WICheddar Cheese mafia: Eric O'Keefe (Wisconsin, Club for Growth) ran the Sam Adams Alliance that built the Tea party, despite longstanding a vigorous denials by Kochs). WII Reince Priebus and paul Ryan are old pals, and though trump attacked GOP leadership, they caved. Gov Scott Walker has been a major implementer of the Koch agenda, anti-union, anti-environment, privatization of all, including schools and prisons). The Kochs had to intervene massively to stop the recall, and it is still a mystery about why Walker abruptly bailed from 2016 race, though will probably involve the John Doe dark money; however, Kochs have been investing in WI supreme court for quite some time).

Walker is an ally of neighboring MI Gov Snyder,and have implemented similar programs. The ultimate fruit of free-marketeering is the lead poisoning of poor black kids, which will permanently lead to cognitive impairment. These two are part of the larger ALEC-Koch-alypse(Four Horsemen: privatization, financialization, militarization, and criminalization). They have funded quite a few midwestern governors, includingKasich and Pence.Some “failed up” and revolving door in Bush admin eg Homeland, butBrownbackwas perhaps most faithful implementer of Koch Libertarianism program and crashed his state (hired ALEC's Laffer to sell tax plan).

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The 2016 United States presidential election in Michigan was won by Donald Trumpon November 8, 2016 with 47.50% of the total votes, over Hillary Clinton's 47.27%. All of Michigan's 16 Electoral Votes were assigned to Trump, contributing to his victory in the 2016 United States presidential election.

:{:{}:

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unions?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_in_Wisconsin,_2016

It was corrected in the official vote totals. As it stands before the recount began, Trump was reported to have won Wisconsin by a narrow margin — 1,405,284 votes to Clinton's 1,382,536. Wisconsin was also the tipping point state of the 2016 election.

:{:{}:

RepublicanDonald TrumpMike Pence1,405,28447.22%10

Democratic Hillary Clinton Tim Kaine1,382,53646.45%0

Libertarian Gary Johnson William Weld106,6743.58%0

Green Jill Stein Ajamu Baraka31,0721.04%0

Constitution Darrell Castle Scott Bradley12,1620.41%0Independent (write-in votes)Evan McMullin Nathan Johnson11,8550.40%0Workers World Monica Moorehead Lamont Lilly1,7700.06%0Independent Rocky De La Fuente Michael Steinberg1,5020.05%0Others / Write-In Votes--23,2950.78%0Totals2,976,150100.00%10Voter turnout (Voting age population)Source: Wisconsin Elections Commission

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/01/donald-trump-will-be-president-thanks-to-80000-people-in-three-states

...Three-weeks-plus after Election Day, there are still more votes to count in California than were cast in each of nine states and D.C. Most of the votes that have been (slowly, laboriously) counted in the state have been votes for Hillary Clinton, giving her a 4.1 million-vote lead in that state that's powering her 2.5 million-vote lead nationally. It takes Donald Trump's margins in the seven states where he saw the biggest vote advantages to make up Clinton's lead in California alone. (All of these figures thanks to Cook Political's Dave Wasserman.)

But, of course, none of this matters. All that matters is that Trump got more electoral college votes, thanks to having won more states. In many cases, those wins were much more narrow than Clinton's, which also helps power the gap between the electoral vote and the popular one. Trump won 18 states by fewer than 250,000 votes; Clinton, 13.

The most important states, though, were Michigan10,704, Pennsylvania (46,765 )and Wisconsin (22,177). Trump won those states by 0.2, 0.7 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively — and by 10,704, 46,765 and 22,177 votes. Those three wins gave him 46 electoral votes; if Clinton had done one point better in each state, she'd have won the electoral vote, too.

...