Progressive Outrage After DNC Chief Tom Perez Endorses Cuomo Ahead Of NY Primary

By Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams

 

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez, who said just two months ago that the national party shouldn't be "anointing candidates" in primary races, was widely rebuked by progressives for his decision this week to endorse New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose reelection bid is being challenged by longtime activist and actress Cynthia Nixon.

"Regardless of who you support in this race, can we all agree that the DNC shouldn't pick winners in a contentious primary in a safely Dem state?" tweetedEzra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible. "Don't be scared of democracy—let the voters decide."

Speaking at the New York state Democratic Convention on Thursday, Perez had said: "I've not only admired Andrew Cuomo, I have admired the Cuomo family since my youth. I've admired what they stood for and what they fought for since I was a kid."

"We often have debates about what wing of the Democratic Party we belong to," Perez continued. Calling Cuomo and his running mate, lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul, "charter members of the accomplishment wing of the Democratic Party," he had declared, "that's why I'm proud to endorse them."

Journalist Michael Sainato posed that Perez and the national party "are scared of progressives" like Nixon because "they know if Cuomo and Hochul go down it'll be a game changer and the rest of the establishment will start facing even greater threats."

Perez's move on Thursday strongly contrasts with his refusal to weigh in on the Georgia gubernatorial Democratic primary earlier this week, in which the progressive candidate prevailed. Perez told NBC News that the DNC had been "scrupulously neutral" in Georgia "because we think the voters should decide that."

DNC Deputy Chairman Keith Ellison, who is known for taking stances left of Perez, had made similar comments about the Georgia race to Democracy Now! on Wednesday. Ellison, who was reportedly not informed of Perez's decision on Cuomo before the chairman's public remarks, responded in a statement to Politico that said: "The Democratic Party should not intervene in the primary process. It is our role to be fair to all contestants and let the voters decide."

Although "Cuomo easily secured the party's nomination with over 95 percent of convention delegates supporting his bid for reelection," BuzzFeed News reports that "Nixon still plans to petition her way onto the ballot ahead of the primary in September."

Nixon has been endorsed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Working Families Party, Our Revolution, and Democracy for America.

"Cuomo represents a wing of the Democratic Party that is out of touch with what voters want right now and that people are veering away from," New York Working Families Party state director Bill Lipton and New York Communities for Change director Jonathan Westin told BuzzFeed News. "For eight years, he's claimed that he's been getting things done and enacting progressive policies but for eight years he's done nothing that he promised."

"Perez coming in at this time only further drives a wedge in the Democratic Party," Westin said to CNN. "What we're seeing play out, in a microcosm here in New York, is that the party elites are out of touch with where the base of the party is at."

Cuomo, meanwhile, has secured endorsements from former Vice President Joe Biden as well as former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

In a series of tweets, comedian and writer Gabe Gonzalez said, "Perez has always placed party loyalty over progress," and concluded, "If the best Cuomo can do is muster Hillary, Biden, and Perez to endorse him, voters should seriously ask themselves whether he's the candidate to guide NY into the future."

First of all, Democrats are not responsible for Donald Trump.

By kentuck

It is the Republican Party that defends and protects him at the detriment of the country. They are responsible for what he does now and what he might do in the future. Although Trump may be a daily threat to the country and the world, he is where he is at, and where he will be tomorrow, because of the Republicans. They cannot hide in the shadows and refuse to take responsibility, or to blame his divisive rhetoric on the Democrats.

Democrats should wash their hands of this creep. People cannot worry about matters for which they have no control. The Republicans have all the control and they own all the responsibility and blame for whatever the trump might do. They own Donald Trump and the American people need to be reminded daily about who is responsible for what is happening in our country. It is not the politicians in Washington. It is not the liberals. It is not the media. It is the Republican Party.

They are the only ones that can do anything about Donald Trump.

Pennsylvania man caught on video harassing black neighbors gets prison time and loses home on ‘ethnic intimidation’ charges

By Tom Boggioni

               

Robert Kujawa mugshot

 

A white Pennsylvania man is going to prison and losing his home after he was convicted of harassing his black neighbors over a period of years, reports The Morning Call.

According to the report, 45 year old Robert Kujawa of Easton, was found guilty by a jury of ethnic intimidation, harassment, stalking and is facing two to four years in state prison.

In their case against Kujawa, prosecutors claimed that the man hung Confederate flags in the windows of his home that faced his black neighbor’s home, and used a racial slur against the woman and her son when they were in the backyard — which Kujawa has denied.

According to the family, the man also used a pellet gun to shoot out their outdoor lights and damage their furniture, forcing them purchase a security system, lighting and a fence and forbid their sons from playing in their yard.

Following the announcement of the verdict, Judge Jennifer Sletvold noted that Kujawa was previously convicted of harassment of the family in 2015 and the following year admitted to reckless endangerment, with the judge stating, “Over the course of many years, Mr. Kujawa robbed this family of their peace.”

At his Friday hearing Kujawa apologized, saying he is losing his home to foreclosure and that he plans on leaving state once his 10th grade daughter graduates.

“I’m really remorseful,” Kujawa told the court. “I’m really sorry that it got to this point.”

According to his neighbor, Biafra Baker, “We just wanted to raise our children. We didn’t ask for any of this.”

For an ethnic intimidation conviction in Pennsylvania, authorities must show that a defendant committed a separate offense — in this case, stalking — for bigoted reasons.

You can watch a clip of Kujawa harassing his neighbors below via the Lehigh Valley Live on YouTube:

FBI issues formal warning on massive malware network linked to Russia

By Olivia Beavers

The FBI on Friday issued a formal warning that a sophisticated Russia-linked hacking campaign is compromising hundreds of thousands of home network devices worldwide and it is advising owners to reboot these devices in an attempt to disrupt the malicious software.

The law enforcement agency said foreign cyber actors are targeting routers in small or home offices with a botnet — or a network of infected devices — known as VPNFilter.

Cybersecurity experts and officials say VPNFilter has infected an estimated 500,000 devices worldwide.

The FBI recommends any owner of small office and home office routers reboot the devices to temporarily disrupt the malware and aid the potential identification of infected devices," the bureau's cyber division wrote in a public alert.

"Owners are advised to consider disabling remote management settings on devices and secure with strong passwords and encryption when enabled. Network devices should be upgraded to the latest available versions of firmware."

Earlier this week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the bureau was working to disrupt the malware, which officials have linked to the cyber espionage group known as APT 28 or Sofacy.

Some cybersecurity firms have already determined this hacking group is being sponsored by the Russian government.

Experts at Cisco’s threat intelligence arm Talos on Wednesday first called attention to VPNFilter, warning that hackers are ramping up malware attacks against Ukraine, infecting thousands of devices ahead of an upcoming national holiday in the country.

"While this isn't definitive by any means, we have also observed VPNFilter, a potentially destructive malware, actively infecting Ukrainian hosts at an alarming rate, utilizing a command and control infrastructure dedicated to that country," Talos wrote in a blog post.

"Both the scale and the capability of this operation are concerning. Working with our partners, we estimate the number of infected devices to be at least 500,000 in at least 54 countries."

The firm warned that VPNFilter could wreak havoc in a number of ways, from stealing website credentials to causing widespread internet disruption.

"The malware has a destructive capability that can render an infected device unusable, which can be triggered on individual victim machines or en masse, and has the potential of cutting off Internet access for hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide."

You Now Have A Patriotic Duty To Kneel During The National Anthem

Posted by Rude One

You see that up there? That's Major General Benedict Arnold's Oath of Allegiance to the United States, signed, in the middle of the Revolutionary War, on May 30, 1778 at Valley Forge. By the end of 1779, Arnold was working for the British to defeat the United States. Lotta fuckin' good that loyalty oath did, huh? Professing your love of nation doesn't mean shit if you don't act like you love it.

Every generation or so, we have to go through this ludicrous exercise in symbol worship. Anti-flag-burning still rears its ugly-ass head every now and then even though the Supreme Court said in 1989 that it was free speech. You know who joined the majority in that case? Motherfuckin' Antonin Scalia who, when asked about it years later, said he did it because the First Amendment is the First Amendment. "If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag. But I am not king," he said in 2015. You got that? Freedom of speech specifically allows us to say things like "your bullshit symbols are bullshit."

And it allows us to not have to worship whatever symbols people in power tell us to worship. During the flag-burning debate, I wrote a comic piece about a joyful flag maker who is encouraging people to burn flags because he makes more money that way. The point was that a flag is a product, often not even made in the United States, that is purchased and is the property of the person who purchased it. If I bought it, it's mine. If I wanna wipe my ass with it, I can because capitalism.

You wanna assign each person their own flag that was sanctified with the blood of George Washington or whatnot, then we can talk about restrictions. But after 9/11, I saw flags that were flown to show pride in country that were just left up, on vehicles and homes, in the rain, in the wind, until they were faded in color, ragged, and worn, which, if you think about it, was pretty damn symbolic for the nation we became pretty quickly after 9/11. But no one was screaming that the pick-up truck driver with an NRA sticker and a "We Support the Troops" magnet should fuckin' respect the flag by taking that threadbare piece shit off his antenna, even though he should have.

Which gets us to the National Anthem.

Look, if you think the National Anthem is a good song, you're just wrong. It sucks. It's a terrible song with warmongering, violent words, a flag fetish, and a ludicrously bad melody that is only vaguely interesting to hear sung to see if the poor singer can actually hit the high note towards the end, at which point the dogs of Pavlovian patriotism in a crowd applaud for the singer not fucking it up. Seriously, though, we have one bullshit national anthem.

When the National Football League owners released its new policy that commands all players on the field to stand during the National Anthem or face fines, they may as well have wiped their asses with the stars and stripes. It didn't have to be this way. They could have just let the protest happen. Colin Kaepernick and the other players who knelt were protesting the mistreatment of African Americans by the police. Then our fucking dickhead resident saw a chance to exploit people's racism and stupidity by condemning players for daring to have an opinion that wasn't his.

And that savage orange bastard said today that he agreed with the new policy. "You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country," he told pubic lice on Fox and Friends this morning. You should lose your job and your citizenship if you don't stand when a shitty song is played before a bunch of millionaires beat themselves into insanity for our entertainment and line the pockets of even richer men who would demand that they stand. Oh, they won't lock the bathrooms and the concession stands during the anthem at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. You can be sitting on a toilet and taking a shit while the Dallas Cowboys are forced to stand.

So now it's not just about protesting police violence. Now the only patriotic thing to do is to kneel when you're at a public event and they stupidly play our dumb anthem. At a Little League game? Take a knee. At a school event? Take a knee. At a football stadium? Take a fuckin' knee. Because the brutish asshole who leads this country still ain't a king, even though he wants to be. And enforced patriotism is just a way to make sure that people fuckin' hate the bullshit symbols.

You don't need to sign an oath or pledge to a flag or stand for a song to love your country. In fact, a country that makes you do that ain't worth your love. So show the players that are forced to stand that you still have a choice. Use it while you can.

Clapper Russia assessment calls Trump legitimacy into question

Rachel Maddow puts into perspective former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's assertion that Donald Trump is only in office because Russia put him there, and what that means to current political events.

The Worst Of All Possible Worlds: We Need Republicans To Act Against Trump

Posted by Rude One

I have been sitting here, drinking away the lunch hour(s), trying to figure out a way to encapsulate the hog pile of fuckery that has involved the Trump administration just in the last few days.

I've thought about metaphors, like say Donald Trump is pretty much a guy who likes to fuck sheep but he's always just lived on a small farm with only a couple of sheep in the barn for him to fuck, but then, all of a sudden, someone mistakes his fucking of sheep for being a really good shepherd and he's hired to take care of a giant flock which for him is like fuck paradise and now he's fucking all the sheep he can, fucking them every which way, in their sheep asses, in their sheep pussies, in their sheep ears, sometimes just rubbing his dick on the fleece on their bodies until he orgasms, and no one's stopping him, no matter how much people point over the fence and say, "He's fucking the sheep, sweet Jesus. He's fucking the sheep," but no one who could stop him from sheep-fucking is going to stop him, and, horrible as it is, you can't look away because there's a fat old man fucking sheep.

But I didn't feel like that metaphor captured the nuances of the situation.

I've thought about recent history, like the "Chinagate" "scandal," where Bill Clinton was accused of shifting policy to favor the Chinese because China had attempted to donate to Democrats, including the president's reelection campaign, and Clinton's legal defense fund. Without getting into the muck of the details and the conflicting conclusions (although some on the right really believe this is The Worst Scandal In American History and Clinton should have been shot for it), let's just deal with objectively what occurred: there were Justice Department investigations that included teams of FBI agents involved, a Senate investigation, and a House investigation, with Democrats, including Joe Biden, being critical of Clinton.

At no point did Clinton attack the DOJ or Attorney General Janet Reno or FBI Director Louis Freeh. In fact, what Clinton said was "[The allegations] obviously have to be thoroughly investigated and I do not want to speculate or accuse anyone of anything...Obviously it would be a very serious matter for the United States if any country were to attempt to funnel funds to one of our parties for any reason whatever" and said the investigations should get to the bottom of the matter. Whatever he might have done behind the scenes, Clinton did nothing but respect the independence of the DOJ and the people who work there. By the way, the amounts of money that were involved in Chinagate were ludicrously small, like in the $80,000 range (out of over $190 million that the DNC raised in 1996). And the foreign policy actions that Clinton supposedly took to favor China were just a continuation of a deal made under George H.W. Bush. You know, back when presidents honored the agreements of other presidents.

Compare that to what ought to be Trump's Chinagate, which involves a $500 million loan by a Chinese government-run company for an Indonesian project that includes a Trump hotel and golf course. On its own, the fact that a company still owned by the resident of the United States is getting massive infusions of capital from foreign countries ought to be a goddamned scandal that'd make Clinton's Chinagate look like the chump change it is. But add into that the fact that Trump tweeted, just a few days after the announced investment, support for the Chinese phone company ZTE, which had been sanctioned by the U.S. for illegal trading with, you know, Iran. And now Trump appears to be backing away from his much-hyped trade war with China as the Chinese roll the United States in whatever the fuck is going on with negotiations. Frankly, the easiest way any of it makes sense is if the trade war threat was just a negotiating tactic to get that Chinese investment in the Indonesian project.

That's a motherfuckin' Chinagate. It's not even a complicated scandal. Trump's company directly benefits from the loan, which means Trump and his family directly benefit from the loan, and anything that Trump does to help China has at least the appearance of a bribed quid pro quo. This ain't Russian pee hookers or clandestine meetings with idiot man-children and a real goddamn pedophile. This doesn't even involve spies. It's a fucking bribe. It's the simplest form of corruption there is.

In fact, let's leave aside the entire Russia probe, which is so monumental in its implications that Republicans just plug their fingers in their ears and scream, "La-la-la, I can't hear you" rather than deal with it. Let's just deal with another easy one.

Trump personally contacted Megan Brennan, the Postmaster General of the United States (not the Postmaster General of Trump, but the whole fuckin' country), to get her to double the shipping rate on packages sent by Amazon because Trump hates the Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Trump tried on several occasions to get her to do what is clearly a violation of a contract Amazon has with the Postal Service. But we all know that a contract to Trump is just something used to wipe his swampy ass dry. Brennan, obviously understanding her audience, sent Trump a series of slides showing him that Amazon is paying a fair rate and that the USPS makes money on the deal. But even a picture show couldn't convince our fucking idiot resident that he's wrong once some lie gets Fox-trapped in his thick, oatmeal-filled skull.

That's a scandal. That's the goddamn resident targeting and attempting to punish an American and an American company because one of the entities in that company doesn't worship Trump. That's abuse of power. That's a violation of his oath. That's fucking easy to understand.

I know we keep thinking, like a mantra to give us some modicum of peace, "Just wait until the midterms. Wait until the midterms." But unless Democrats take back both houses of Congress by overwhelming majorities, something that is frankly impossible, we still need Republicans to shake off whatever combination of craven political power-mongering and greed they have in order to step the fuck up here. Even in 2019, Republicans would be needed to remove Trump from office over any of the extravagantly impeachable scandals that are racking up on a daily basis.

Again, I'm not even talking about whatever Robert Mueller's investigation might find. I'm saying that the crisis is here, now, and it's not just in the big, grand uber-scandal that Trump is not the legitimate president. I'm talking about the quotidian, easily comprehensible graft and threats. What we might simple call "the dictator shit." And he's getting away with the dictator shit because the elected officials who are supposed to stop the dictator shit aren't doing a goddamn thing.

That's on Republicans. But the GOP has signaled, in ways small and big, that not only are they not interested in holding Trump to account, but they will do what they can to aid and abet the entire hog pile of fuckery, starting with the repulsive pile of goat vomit, Devin Nunes, who will go down the shitter of history as "that fucker who kept letting Trump get away with it." And that'll go for nearly every Republican in Congress right now. This is the other big scandal: the dereliction of duty by the majority party in the Legislative Branch.

But that kind of talk does us no good. The best we can hope is that a 2018 Democratic wave will scare the shit out of Republicans. Hell, it might even make a few of them change party when the choice is fealty to a vile orange blob or the possibility of some kind of redemption. Trump's balls can't taste that good.

And Democrats should run on those easily understandable scandals, not the Russia stuff, precisely because it's just easier to communicate in a 30-second ad: He took a bribe. He threatened to make your Amazon deliveries cost more. He's an asshole because of that and needs to be stopped. Right now, Republicans aren't doing their fucking jobs. Democrats can run on just doing the fucking job of a member of Congress.

Otherwise, yeah, we're all just standing at the gate, yelling, "Won't someone, for the love of God, stop him from fucking those sheep?"

'More Evidence Against Trump' Than Nixon: Ex-White House Ethics Lawyer Slams Congress For Letting Trump Obstruct Justice

Richard Painter says Trump's crimes are "well-beyond" Watergate.

By Cody Fenwick / AlterNet

Former White House ethics lawyer and Democratic Senate candidate Richard Painter argued on CBS Monday night that there is much more evidence against resident Donald Trump for obstruction of justice than there ever was against President Richard Nixon before he resigned in disgrace.

The difference between the two situations? Congress, Painter said.

"We have far more evidence of abuse of power and obstruction of justice than we had in 1973 when I was 12 years old and the House and the Senate convened the Judiciary Committees to have hearings with respect to Watergate and President Nixon. We're well-beyond that point. And yet the House and the Senate won't do anything at all.

He continued: "We need to have those hearings, we need to find out who in this administration has been complicit in these illegal acts. We need to find out what the role of the vice president, Michael Pence, was in these illegal acts. This is critically important. And then when you have the facts, the next step is to decide what to do with it. Impeachment starts in the House of Representatives, and then it goes to the Senate."

The View From Trump's Brain

Almost half of US families can’t afford to pay for basic needs

Nearly 51 million households don’t earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, and a cell phone.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/local/almost-half-of-us-families-can-e2-80-99t-afford-basics-like-rent-and-food/ar-AAxqntR

Rep. Adam Schiff On ZTE Tweet: "Something Else Must Be Going On" Between Trump And China

On Tuesday, May 15, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joined Rachel Maddow on MSNBC to discuss resident Trump's recent actions to protect Chinese jobs and specifically ZTE, a company that violated U.S. sanctions on North Korea and Iran and posed a cyber security threat.

Is China Straight-Up Bribing Donald Trump?

The resident suddenly softens on a Chinese business after Beijing bankrolls a Trump Organization project.

by Bess Levin

May 15, 2018 12:00 pm

 

When Donald Trump announced on Sunday night that he was riding to the rescue of Chinese electronics maker ZTE, more than a few people, including those who work for him, were shocked. 

 

For one thing, Trump has long-claimed that China “is raping us” through unfair trade practices, and stealing American jobs. For another, the U.S. and Beijing are currently locked in tense negotiations to avoid a protracted trade war, thanks to the president’s decision to slap Chinese imports with a vast array of tariffs. For yet another, just a month prior, Trump’s own Commerce Department had banned shipments of American technology to ZTE for seven years, saying that the company violated American sanctions against countries including Iran and North Korea and lied about punishing employees for doing so. 

 

As a result, ZTE halted major operating activities—an outcome you’d have expected to please the resident, considering he’d just imposed aluminum and steel tariffs on “national security” grounds, and ZTE was threatening national security. So it was a bit odd to see Trump pull a complete 180, suddenly insisting that the company and its 75,000 Chinese jobs must be saved, though to be fair, tweeting “Look, China just pumped $500 million into a Trump Organization project so I had to do them a solid” might not have gone over so well.

Oh, that’s right—according to multiple news outlets, the resident’s total about-face on China came just 72 hours after the developer of a theme park outside Jakarta, known as MNC Lido City, with whom the Trump Organization has an agreement to license its name, signed a deal to receive $500 million in Chinese government loans, in addition to another $500 million from government banks.  

 

According to Agence France-Presse, the Trump Organization will rake in almost $3.7 million in licensing and consulting payments from Lido, along with another project in Bali. The company will also earn management fees, and be “eligible for additional unspecified incentives.” (Upon entering the White House, Trump turned over day-to-day management of the family business to his sons Donny Jr. and Eric, but chose not to divest himself financially from the company.)

 

Of course, we can’t entirely be sure that the financial injection was the reason for Trump’s sudden soft spot for Chinese jobs. Other theories for the change of heart include the fact that the resident knows he needs China’s help during next month’s North Korea summit; that the economic nationalists in the White House are losing ground to the free-traders like Larry Kudlow; and that Trump sees helping ZTE as a way to get a trade deal with China. (According to the Washington Post the Chinese government gave and the U.S. a list of economic and trade demands and bullet point 5 was “announce adjustment to the [ZTE] export ban.”) But we also know that this is a resident for whom kissing the ring goes very, very far. “You do a good deal for him, he does a good deal for you. 

 

Quid pro quo,” Richard Painter, the White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush, told HuffPost. 

 

“This appears to be yet another violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution,” Painter added, referring to the prohibition against the resident receiving payments from foreign governments.

 

The White House, naturally, isn’t commenting on any of this. “You’re asking about a private organization’s dealings that may have to do with a foreign government. It’s not something I can speak to,” Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said Monday when he was asked about the Lido City deal. 

 

Luckily for Trump, the Trump Organization can’t speak to questions involving the resident, either. And so any ethics issues involving either Trump or the businesses putting money in his pocket necessarily disappear into a metaphysical black hole.

 

Robert Weissman, president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, called the turn of events “stunning.” “They perpetually find new things to surprise me,” he said. “The idea of the resident intervening in a law-enforcement matter to satisfy a foreign government is extraordinary. And it’s extraordinary because it doesn’t happen. Opening that door threatens the integrity of all corporate law enforcement. The Chinese government seems to have figured out a way to manipulate resident Trump,” Weissman added. “It’s exactly why this anti-bribery clause of the Constitution is common sense.” 

 

As Christopher Balding, an economics professor at Shenzhen’s HSBC Business School, told A.F.P., “Even if this deal is completely and entirely above board, it simply furthers the perception of impropriety” concerning Trump’s business dealings. “Especially with the potential trade war, this is not a good look . . . Critics will be entirely right to demand answers.” We’re sure the administration, whose motto is basically “We’re open for business, baby,” will get right on that.

ZTE technology and phones pose a major cyber security threat

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-trump-zte-china-20180513-story.html

Spot The Mistakes

Trump Supporters ‘Tricked by the Devil’ Are Now Facing Financial Ruin: ‘I Feel So Stupid’

Eddie Devine voted for Trump, but worries he may go out of business. Here's why.

By Bob Brigham / Raw Story

May 12, 2018, 6:57 PM GMT

Small business owners who supported Donald Trump are complaining about troubles hiring foreign seasonal labor the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

The newspaper interviewed multiple landscaping business owners who claim they are unable to hire Americans for the same wages.

Eddie Devine voted for Trump, but worries he may go out of business if he is unable to continue hiring 20 foreign workers a season though the H-2B visa program.

“I feel like I’ve been tricked by the devil,” Devine admitted. “I feel so stupid.”

Devin says Trump's policies are more about race than economics, noting that Trump properties in

New York and Florida rely upon the H-2B visa program for 144 jobs a year.

“I think there’s a war on brown people,” he argued. “I want to know why it’s OK for him to get his workers, but supporters like me don’t get theirs."

“We live and die by these visas,” said Ken Monin, owner of Monin Construction. “Last year we about went bankrupt. The workers we were supposed to get in March didn’t show up until August because they couldn’t get visas.”

“Americans don’t want most of these jobs,” Monin claimed.

Trump is no longer the worst person in government

By George Will


Vice Resident Pence. (Chuck Burton/AP)

Donald Trump, with his feral cunning, knew. The oleaginous Mike Pence, with his talent for toadyism and appetite for obsequiousness, could, Trump knew, become America’s most repulsive public figure. And Pence, who has reached this pinnacle by dethroning his benefactor, is augmenting the public stock of useful knowledge. Because his is the authentic voice of today’s lick-spittle Republican Party, he clarifies this year’s elections: Vote Republican to ratify groveling as governing.

Last June, a Trump Cabinet meeting featured testimonials offered to Dear Leader by his forelock-tugging colleagues. His chief of staff, Reince Priebus, caught the spirit of the worship service by thanking Trump for the “blessing” of being allowed to serve him. The hosannas poured forth from around the table, unredeemed by even a scintilla of insincerity. Priebus was soon deprived of his blessing, as was Tom Price. Before Price’s ecstasy of public service was truncated because of his incontinent enthusiasm for charter flights, he was the secretary of health and human services who at the Cabinet meeting said, “I can’t thank you enough for the privileges you’ve given me.” 

The vice resident chimed in but saved his best riff for a December Cabinet meeting when, as The Post’s Aaron Blake calculated, Pence praised Trump once every 12 seconds for three minutes: “I’m deeply humbled. . . . ” Judging by the number of times Pence announces himself “humbled,” he might seem proud of his humility, but that is impossible because he is conspicuously devout and pride is a sin. 

Between those two Cabinet meetings, Pence and his retinue flew to Indiana for the purpose of walking out of an Indianapolis Colts football game, thereby demonstrating that football players kneeling during the national anthem are intolerable to someone of Pence’s refined sense of right and wrong. Which brings us to his Arizona salute last week to Joe Arpaio, who was sheriff of Maricopa County until in 2016 voters wearied of his act.

Noting that Arpaio was in his Tempe audience, Pence, oozing unctuousness from every pore, called Arpaio “another favorite,” professed himself “honored” by Arpaio’s presence, and praised him as “a tireless champion of . . . the rule of law.” Arpaio, a grandstanding, camera-chasing bully and darling of the thuggish right, is also a criminal, convicted of contempt of court for ignoring a federal judge’s order to desist from certain illegal law enforcement practices. Pence’s performance occurred eight miles from the home of Sen. John McCain, who could teach Pence — or perhaps not — something about honor. 

Henry Adams said that “practical politics consists in ignoring facts,” but what was the practicality in Pence’s disregard of the facts about Arpaio? His pandering had no purpose beyond serving Pence’s vocation, which is to ingratiate himself with his audience of the moment. The audience for his praise of Arpaio was given to chanting “Build that wall!” and applauded Arpaio, who wears Trump’s pardon like a boutonniere. 

Hoosiers, of whom Pence is one, sometimes say that although Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky and flourished in Illinois, he spent his formative years — December 1816 to March 1830 — in Indiana, which he left at age 21. Be that as it may, on Jan. 27, 1838, Lincoln, then 28, delivered his first great speech, to the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield. 

Less than three months earlier, Elijah Lovejoy, an abolitionist newspaper editor in Alton, Ill., 67 miles from Springfield, was murdered by a pro-slavery mob. Without mentioning Lovejoy — it would have been unnecessary — Lincoln lamented that throughout America, “so lately famed for love of law and order,” there was a “mobocratic spirit” among “the vicious portion of [the] population.” So, “let reverence for the laws . . . become the political religion of the nation.” Pence, one of evangelical Christians’ favorite pin-ups, genuflects at various altars, as the mobocratic spirit and the vicious portion require. 

It is said that one cannot blame people who applaud Arpaio and support his rehabilitators (Trump, Pence, et al.), because, well, globalization or health-care costs or something. Actually, one must either blame them or condescend to them as lacking moral agency. Republicans silent about Pence have no such excuse.

There will be negligible legislating by the next Congress, so ballots cast this November will be most important as validations or repudiations of the harmonizing voices of Trump, Pence, Arpaio and the like. Trump is what he is, a floundering, inarticulate jumble of gnawing insecurities and not-at-all compensating vanities, which is pathetic. Pence is what he has chosen to be, which is horrifying.

Circular Sarah

WATCH: Trump Back-UP The Bus Over Rudy And Dig A DEEPER Hole For Himself

If you think Rudy Giuliani created a mess during his pro Trump defense right wing media tour, then you have to watch this to believe the magnitude of the disaster expanded by Trump. Trump not only Ran the Bus over Rudy, he reversed it over him as well, all in the name of defending his friend.

WATCH

Fox And Friends

Mueller Has Dozens Of Inquiries For Trump In Broad Quest On Russia Ties And Obstruction

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT APRIL 30, 2018

Robert S. Mueller III is said to be trying to determine whether the president had criminal intent when he fired James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director. Credit J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russia’s election interference, has at least four dozen questions on an exhaustive array of subjects he wants to ask resident Trump to learn more about his ties to Russia and determine whether he obstructed the inquiry itself, according to a list of the questions obtained by The New York Times.

[Read the questions here.]

The open-ended queries appear to be an attempt to penetrate the resident’s thinking, to get at the motivation behind some of his most combative Twitter posts and to examine his relationships with his family and his closest advisers. They deal chiefly with the resident’s high-profile firings of the F.B.I. director and his first national security adviser, his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.

But they also touch on the resident’s businesses; any discussions with his longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, about a Moscow real estate deal; whether the resident knew of any attempt by Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to set up a back channel to Russia during the transition; any contacts he had with Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser who claimed to have inside information about Democratic email hackings; and what happened during Mr. Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant.

The questions provide the most detailed look yet inside Mr. Mueller’s investigation, which has been shrouded in secrecy since he was appointed nearly a year ago. The majority relate to possible obstruction of justice, demonstrating how an investigation into Russia’s election meddling grew to include an examination of the resident’s conduct in office. Among them are queries on any discussions Mr. Trump had about his attempts to fire Mr. Mueller himself and what the resident knew about possible pardon offers to Mr. Flynn.

“What efforts were made to reach out to Mr. Flynn about seeking immunity or possible pardon?” Mr. Mueller planned to ask, according to questions read by the special counsel investigators to the resident’s lawyers, who compiled them into a list. That document was provided to The Times by a person outside Mr. Trump’s legal team.

A few questions reveal that Mr. Mueller is still investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. In one of the more tantalizing inquiries, Mr. Mueller asks what Mr. Trump knew about campaign aides, including the former chairman Paul Manafort, seeking assistance from Moscow: “What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?” No such outreach has been revealed publicly.

Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, declined to comment. A spokesman for the special counsel’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The questions serve as a reminder of the chaotic first 15 months of the Trump residency and the transition and campaign before that. Mr. Mueller wanted to inquire about public threats the resident made, conflicting statements from Mr. Trump and White House aides, the resident’s private admissions to Russian officials, a secret meeting at an island resort, WikiLeaks, salacious accusations and dramatic congressional testimony.

The special counsel also sought information from the resident about his relationship with Russia. Mr. Mueller would like to ask Mr. Trump whether he had any discussions during the campaign about any meetings with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and whether he spoke to others about either American sanctions against Russia or meeting with Mr. Putin.

Through his questions, Mr. Mueller also tries to tease out Mr. Trump’s views on law enforcement officials and whether he sees them as independent investigators or people who should loyally protect him.

For example, when the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, was fired, the White House said he broke with Justice Department policy and spoke publicly about the investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s email server. Mr. Mueller’s questions put that statement to the test. He wants to ask why, time and again, Mr. Trump expressed no concerns with whether Mr. Comey had abided by policy. Rather, in statements in private and on national television, Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Comey was fired because of the Russia investigation.

Many of the questions surround Mr. Trump’s relationship with Mr. Sessions, including the attorney general’s decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation and whether Mr. Trump told Mr. Sessions he needed him in place for protection.

Mr. Mueller appears to be investigating how Mr. Trump took steps last year to fire Mr. Mueller himself. The resident relented after the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, threatened to resign, an episode that the special counsel wants to ask about.

“What consideration and discussions did you have regarding terminating the special counsel in June of 2017?” Mr. Mueller planned to ask, according to the list of questions. “What did you think and do in reaction to Jan. 25, 2018, story about the termination of the special counsel and Don McGahn backing you off the termination?” he planned to ask, referring to the Times article that broke the news of the confrontation.

Mr. Mueller has sought for months to question the resident, who has in turn expressed a desire, at times, to be interviewed, viewing it as an avenue to end the inquiry more quickly. His lawyers have been negotiating terms of an interview out of concern that their client — whose exaggerations, half-truths and outright falsehoods are well documented — could provide false statements or easily become distracted. Four people, including Mr. Flynn, have pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in the Russia inquiry.

The list of questions grew out of those negotiations. In January, Mr. Trump’s lawyers gave Mr. Mueller several pages of written explanations about the resident’s role in the matters the special counsel is investigating. Concerned about putting the resident in legal jeopardy, his lead lawyer, John Dowd, was trying to convince Mr. Mueller he did not need to interview Mr. Trump, according to people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Mueller was apparently unsatisfied. He told Mr. Dowd in early March that he needed to question the resident directly to determine whether he had criminal intent when he fired Mr. Comey, the people said.

But Mr. Dowd held firm, and investigators for Mr. Mueller agreed days later to share during a meeting with Mr. Dowd the questions they wanted to ask Mr. Trump.

When Mr. Mueller’s team relayed the questions, their tone and detailed nature cemented Mr. Dowd’s view that the resident should not sit for an interview. Despite Mr. Dowd’s misgivings, Mr. Trump remained firm in his insistence that he meet with Mr. Mueller. About a week and a half after receiving the questions, Mr. Dowd resigned, concluding that his client was ignoring his advice.

Mr. Trump’s new lawyer in the investigation and his longtime confidant, Rudolph W. Giuliani, met with Mr. Mueller last week and said he was trying to determine whether the special counsel and his staff were going to be “truly objective.”

Mr. Mueller’s endgame remains a mystery, even if he determines the resident broke the law. A longstanding Justice Department legal finding says residents cannot be charged with a crime while they are in office. The special counsel told Mr. Dowd in March that though the resident’s conduct is under scrutiny, he is not a target of the investigation, meaning Mr. Mueller does not expect to charge him.

The prospect of pardons is also among Mr. Mueller’s inquiries, and whether Mr. Trump offered them to a pair of former top aides to influence their decisions about whether to cooperate with the special counsel investigation.

Mr. Dowd broached the idea with lawyers for both of the advisers, Mr. Flynn and Mr. Manafort, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Mr. Manafort has pleaded not guilty on charges of money laundering and other financial crimes related to his work for the pro-Russia former president of Ukraine.

Mr. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general who was ousted from the White House in February 2017 amid revelations about contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States, ultimately pleaded guilty last December to lying to federal authorities and agreed to cooperate with the special counsel.

“After General Flynn resigned, what calls or efforts were made by people associated with you to reach out to General Flynn or to discuss Flynn seeking immunity or possible pardon?” Mr. Mueller planned to ask.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting from New York.

Get politics and Washington news updates via Facebook, Twitter and the Morning Briefing newsletter.

A version of this article appears in print on May 1, 2018, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Questions for President Show Depth of Inquiry Into Russian Meddling. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Michelle Wolf performs stand-up routine at White House Correspondent's dinner

Wolf's routine took shots at Donald Trump, Mike Pence, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and the media.



Good evening. Good evening. Here we are, the White House correspondents' dinner: Like a porn star says when she's about to have sex with a Trump, let's get this over with.

Yup, kiddos, this is who you're getting tonight. I'm going to skip a lot of the normal pleasantries. We're at a Hilton; it's not nice. This is on C-SPAN; no one watches that. Trump is president; it's not ideal.The White House Correspondents' Association, thank you for having me. The monkfish was fine.

And just a reminder to everyone, I'm here to make jokes. I have no agenda. I'm not trying to get anything accomplished. So everyone that's here from Congress, you should feel right at home.

Yeah, before we get too far, a little bit about me. A lot of you might not know who I am. I'm 32 years old, which is an odd age: 10 years too young to host this event and 20 years too old for Roy Moore. I know, he almost got elected, yeah. It was fun. It was fun.

Honestly, I never really thought I'd be a comedian. But I did take an aptitude test in seventh grade — and this is 100 percent true — I took an aptitude test in seventh grade, and it said in my best profession was a clown or a mime.Well, at first it said clown, and then it heard my voice and then was like, “Or maybe mime. Think about mime.”

And I know as much as some of you might want me to, it's 2018 and I am a woman, so you cannot shut me up — unless you have Michael Cohen wire me $130,000. Michael, you can find me on Venmo under my porn star name, Reince Priebus. Reince just gave a thumbs up. OK.

Now, people are saying America is more divided than ever, but I think no matter what you support politically, we can all agree that this is a great time for craft stores. Because of all the protests, poster board has been flying off the shelves faster than Robert Mueller can say, “You've been subpoenaed.”

Thanks to Trump, pink yarn sales are through the roof. After Trump got elected, women started knitting those pussy hats. When I first saw them, I was like, “That's a pussy?” I guess mine just has a lot more yarn on it.Yeah, shoulda done more research before you got me to do this.

Now, there is a lot to cover tonight. There's a lot to go over. I can't get to everything. I know there's a lot of people that want me to talk about Russia and Putin and collusion, but I'm not going to do that because there's also a lot of liberal media here. And I've never really wanted to know what any of you look like when you orgasm.

Except for maybe you, Jake Tapper. I bet it's something like this: “OK, that's all the time we have.”

It is kind of crazy that the Trump campaign was in contact with Russia when the Hillary campaign wasn't even in contact with Michigan. It's a direct flight; it's so close.

Of course, Trump isn't here, if you haven't noticed. He's not here. And I know, I know, I would drag him here myself. But it turns out the resident of the United States is the one pussy you're not allowed to grab.He said it first. Yeah, he did. Do you remember? Good.

Now, I know people really want me to go after Trump tonight, but I think we should give the resident credit when he deserves it. Like, he pulled out the Paris agreement, and I think he should get credit for that because he said he was going to pull out and then he did. And that's a refreshing quality in a man. Most men are like, “I forgot. I'll get you next time.” Oh, there's going to be a next time?

People say romance is dead. People call Trump names all the time. And, look, I could call Trump a racist, a misogynist or xenophobic or unstable or incompetent or impotent. But he's heard all of those, and he doesn't care. So, tonight, I'm going to try to make fun of the resident in a new way — in a way that I think will really get him. Mr. resident, I don't think you're very rich.

Like, I think you might be rich in Idaho, but in New York, you're doing fine. Trump is the only person that still watches “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and thinks, “Me.”Although, I'm not sure you'd get very far. He'd get to, like, the third question and be, like, “I have to phone a 'Fox & Friend.'

”We're going to try a fun new thing, OK? I'm going to say, “Trump is so broke,” and you guys go, “How broke is he?” All right?

Trump is so broke. [AUDIENCE: How broke is he?] He has to fly failed business class.

Trump is so broke. [AUDIENCE: How broke is he?] He looked for foreign oil in Don Jr.'s hair.

Trump is so broke. [AUDIENCE: How broke is he?] He — Southwest used him as one of their engines. I know, it's so soon. It's so soon for that joke. Why did she tell it? It's so soon.

Trump is so broke. [AUDIENCE: How broke is he?] He had to borrow money from the Russians, and now he's compromised and not susceptible to blackmail and possibly responsible for the collapse of the republic.Yay! It's a fun game.

Trump is racist, though. He loves white nationalists, which is a weird term for a Nazi. Calling a Nazi a white nationalist is like calling a pedophile a kid friend or Harvey Weinstein a ladies' man — which isn't really fair; he also likes plants. Trump's also an idea guy. He's got loads of ideas. You gotta love him for that. He wants to give teachers guns, and I support that, 'cause then they can sell them for things they need, like supplies. A lot of protractors. A lot of people want Trump to be impeached. I do not. Because just when you think Trump is awful, you remember Mike Pence. Mike Pence is what happens when Anderson Cooper isn't gay.

Mike Pence is the kind of guy that brushes his teeth and then drinks orange juice and thinks, “Mmm.” Mike Pence is also very anti-choice. He thinks abortion is murder, which, first of all, don't knock it till you try it. And when you do try it, really knock it. You know, you got to get that baby out of there. And, yes, sure, you can groan all you want. I know a lot of you are very anti-abortion. You know, unless it's the one you got for your secret mistress. It's fun how values can waiver. But good for you.

Mike Pence is a weirdo, though. He's a weird little guy. He won't meet with other women without his wife present. When people first heard this, they were like, “That's crazy.” But now, in this current climate, they're like, “That's a good witness.”Which, of course, brings me to the Me Too movement; it's probably the reason I'm here. They were like, “A woman's probably not going to jerk off in front of anyone, right?” And to that, I say, “Don't count your chickens.” There's a lot of party.

Now, I've worked in a lot of male-dominated fields. Before comedy, I worked at a tech company and, before that, I worked on Wall Street. And, honestly, I've never really been sexually harassed. That being said, I did work at Bear Stearns in 2008. So, although I haven't been sexually harassed, I've definitely been fucked. Yeah, that whole company went down on me without my consent. And no men got in trouble for that one either.

No, things are changing. Men are being held accountable. You know, Al Franken was ousted. That one really hurt liberals. But I believe it was the great Ted Kennedy who said, “Wow, that's crazy; I murdered a woman.”

Chappaquiddick – in theaters now.

I did have a lot of jokes — I had a lot of jokes about Cabinet members, but I had to scrap all of those because everyone has been fired. You guys are going through Cabinet members quicker than Starbucks throws out black people. No, don't worry, they're having an afternoon. That'll solve it. We just needed an afternoon.

Mitch McConnell isn't here. He had a prior engagement. He's finally getting his neck circumcised. Mazel.

Paul Ryan couldn't make it. Of course, he's already been circumcised. Unfortunately, while they were down there, they also took his bitches.Yeah, bye, Paul. Great acting, though, in that video.

Republicans are easy to make fun of. It's like shooting fish in a Chris Christie. But I also want to make fun of Democrats. Democrats are harder to make fun of because you guys don't do anything. People think you might flip the House and Senate this November, but you guys always find a way to mess it up. You're somehow going to lose by 12 points to a guy named Jeff Pedophile Nazi Doctor. Oh, he's a doctor?

We should definitely talk about the women in the Trump administration. There's Kellyanne Conway. Man, she has the perfect last name for what she does: Conway. It's like if my name was Michelle Jokes Frizzy Hair Small Tits. You guys gotta stop putting Kellyanne on your shows. All she does is lie. If you don't give her a platform, she has nowhere to lie. It's like that old saying: If a tree falls in the woods, how do we get Kellyanne under that tree? I'm not suggesting she gets hurt; just stuck. Stuck under a tree. Incidentally, a tree falls in the woods is Scott Pruitt's definition of porn. Yeah, we all have our kinks.

There's also, of course, Ivanka. She was supposed to be an advocate for women, but it turns out she's about as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons. She's done nothing to satisfy women. So, I guess, like father, like daughter. Oh, you don't think he's good in bed. Come on.

She does clean up nice, though. Ivanka cleans up nice. She's the Diaper Genie of the administration. On the outside, she looks sleek but the inside — it's still full of shit.

And, of course, we have Sarah Huckabee Sanders. We're graced with Sarah's presence tonight. I have to say I'm a little star-struck. I love you as Aunt Lydia in “The Handmaid's Tale.”Mike Pence, if you haven't seen it, you would love it.

Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited because I'm not really sure what we're going to get: you know, a press briefing, a bunch of lies or divided into softball teams. “It's shirts and skins, and this time, don't be such a little bitch, Jim Acosta.”I actually really like Sarah. I think she's very resourceful. Like, she burns facts, and then she uses the ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Like, maybe she's born with it; maybe it's lies.It's probably lies.

And I'm never really sure what to call Sarah Huckabee Sanders. You know, is it Sarah Sanders? Is Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Is it Cousin Huckabee? Is it Auntie Huckabee Sanders? Like, what's Uncle Tom but for white women who disappoint other white women? Oh, I know: Aunt Coulter.

We've got our friends at CNN here. Welcome, guys, it's great to have you. You guys love breaking news, and you did it. You broke it. Good work.The most useful information on CNN is when Anthony Bourdain tells me where to eat noodles. Fox News is here. So, you know what that means, ladies: Cover your drinks. Seriously. People want me to make fun of Sean Hannity tonight, but I cannot do that; this dinner is for journalists.

We've got MSNBC here. MSNBC's news slogan is, “This is who we are.” Guys, it's not a good slogan. “This is who we are” is what your Mom thinks the sad show on NBC is called. “Did you watch 'This Is Who We Are' this week? Someone left on a Crockpot, and everyone died.”I watch “Morning Joe” every morning. We now know that Mika and Joe are engaged. Congratulations, you guys. It's like when a Me Too works out.

We also have Rachel Maddow. We cannot forget about Rachel Maddow. She is the Peter Pan of MSNBC. But instead of never growing up, she never gets to the point. Watching Rachel Maddow is like going to Target. You went in for milk, but you left with shampoo, candles and the entire history of the Byzantine Empire. “I didn't need this.”And, of course, Megyn Kelly. What would I do without Megyn Kelly? You know, probably be more proud of women.

Megyn Kelly got paid $23 million by NBC, then NBC didn't let Megyn go to the Winter Olympics. Why not? She's so white, cold and expensive, she might as well be the Winter Olympics.

And, by the way, Megyn, Santa's black. The weird old guy going through your chimney was Bill O'Reilly. You might want to put a flue on it or something.There's a lot of print media here. There's a ton of you guys, but I'm not going to go after print media tonight because it's illegal to attack an endangered species.Buy newspapers.There's a ton of news right now; a lot is going on, and we have all these 24-hour news networks, and we could be covering everything. But, instead, we're covering like three topics. Every hour, it's Trump, Russia, Hillary and a panel of four people who remind you why you don't go home for Thanksgiving.

“Milk comes from nuts now, all 'cause of the gays.”You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you use to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him. I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn't sell steaks or vodka or water or college or ties or Eric, but he has helped you.

He's helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster, and now you're profiting off of him. And if you're gonna profit off of Trump, you should at least give him some money because he doesn't have any.

Trump is so broke.

[AUDIENCE: How broke is he?]

He grabs pussies 'cause he thinks there might be loose change in them. All right, like an immigrant who was brought here by his parents and didn't do anything wrong, I gotta get the fuck out of here.

Good night.

Flint still doesn't have clean water. 

Daybreak Games denies reported links to sanctioned Russian oligarch

MMO maker backtracks on previous statements regarding sale to investment firm.

Kyle Orland - 4/27/2018, 11:46 AM

Enlarge / Daybreak's story on the money behind this logo has been changing recently.

Back in 2015, the former Sony Online Entertainment announced it was being bought by investment management firm Columbus Nova and changing its name to Daybreak Game Company (Everquest II, H1Z1, Planetside 2). Now that the US Treasury Department is sanctioning the Russian oligarch that owns Columbus Nova, though, Daybreak is suddenly saying that it has never had any affiliation with its ostensible parent company. 

 

Let's start with the few undisputed facts in this odd tale. Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg was placed under sanction by the US Treasury Department earlier this month for "malign" and "destabilizing activities" in various international affairs. Vekselberg, whose US assets have been frozen, is the owner of technology investment group Columbus Nova and its parent company, Renova Group.

What Daybreak now disputes, though, is that Columbus Nova ever had an ownership stake in the MMO maker. "From the get-go, Daybreak has been primarily owned by Jason Epstein, a longtime investor who also has investments in a variety of media properties," the company wrote in a forum post yesterday. "We're well aware of prior statements from Daybreak indicating our company was acquired by Columbus Nova. We have since clarified that the company was acquired by Jason Epstein when he was a partner at Columbus Nova, which he left in 2017."

It's those previous statements—which have stood uncontested for years—that are raising some eyebrows now that the companies are attempting to distance themselves from the investment management firm. Columbus Nova was mentioned a number of times in Daybreak's February 2015 announcement press release, which doesn't mention Epstein at all. Columbus Nova was also cited as Daybreak's parent company in the site's privacy policy from 2015 through at least 2017. Both of those documents have since been taken down from the Daybreak Games website, but the Internet Archive links cited above don't forget.

Outside of those previous firsthand sources, there's also a Polygon feature from April 2015 where Daybreak's then-president and CEO John Smedley directly says that "after kissing a lot of frogs, we finally found a happy home with Columbus Nova. It was really a match made in heaven." Smedley also mentions Columbus Nova's investment in a May VentureBeat interview and in a 2016 Polygon interview.

News reports when Smedley departed the company that July also cited Columbus Nova as the studio's owner, without apparent objection. And Columbus Nova executive Ji Ham was named Daybreak president in 2016, after a 16-month tenure from Smedley's replacement, Russell Shanks.
What's more, a Wikipedia user going by "Daybreakpr" tried to edit the Daybreak Games Wikipedia page on April 6, the same day the Treasury Department announced its sanctions against Vekselberg. "The company has no affiliation to Columbus Nova," Daybreakpr wrote in the Wikipedia edit notes. "Jason Epstein is and has always been the primary owner and executive of Daybreak Game Company." That edit was later reversed for not citing a reliable source and for appearing to come from someone with an "undisclosed financial stake" in the company.

Trust us now, not us then

Given all that, it's a bit hard to believe that Daybreak has "no affiliation" with Columbus Nova, as a spokesperson claimed to MMO news site Massively Overpowered this week (Daybreak was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment from Ars Technica). The surprising claim looks even more suspicious given widespread reports of sudden layoffs at Daybreak yesterday afternoon and the departure of Senior Vice President Laura Naviaux on Wednesday.

Players of Daybreak games like Everquest II are understandably concerned that the disputed connections between Vekselberg and Daybreak could cause trouble for their favorite titles. Reports suggest Vekselberg's frozen US accounts contain up to $2 billion in assets and that the Treasury Department has given his US investment funds until June 5 to sell off their interest in his companies at a loss and wind down their related operations.

Given that, it's likely only a small matter of time until we find out if Vekselberg's legal and financial problems will become Daybreak's via a disputed business relationship. For now, we'll only say that something doesn't seem to add up.

[Update: A source inside Daybreak Games (who asked not to be named directly) responded to Ars' request for comment to clarify once again that Daybreak was actually purchased in 2015 by Jason Epstein through his wholly-owned LLC, Inception Acquisitions. Epstein was an ownership partner of Columbus Nova at the time, leading his purchase to be conflated with ownership by Columbus Nova itself in statements and reporting, the source explained.

"At the time, they just didn't think that that was a big deal, because both Inception and Columbus Nova were Jason's," said the source, who was not with the company in 2015. "Jason was the primary owner, and he owned both. Saying Columbus Nova as an investment firm seemed to make more sense [at the time]... What they should have said was 'Jason Epstein, owner of Harmonix, purchased Daybreak,' [or] ''Partners of Columbus Nova purchase Daybreak.'"

"We're not denying he was there," the source continued. But when Epstein left Columbus Nova last year, any association between the investment firm and Daybreak (through Epstein) ended, the source said. Daybreak and Columbus Nova let an announcement of that distinction "fall through the cracks" when Epstein departed, focusing instead on getting H1Z1 to a full release, they added.

What's more, the source also said that Vekselberg's Renova Group does not actually own Columbus Nova, despite widespread reporting through the years suggesting they do. Instead, the source said, Columbus Nova merely "managed some accounts," for the Russian conglomerate, adding that those accounts were "not tied to Russia. Renova has other holdings and accounts, and we've gotten roped in."

A 2007 SEC filing from "Columbus Acquisition Corp." cites Columbus Nova as "the U.S.-based affiliate of the Renova Group of companies."]