It's pretty cruel to fire a career FBI agent two days before his official retirement so he'd be at risk of losing his retirement, but that's Donald Trump. Jefferson Sessions did the dirty work.

The Associated Press reports McCabe kept memos of his interactions with Trump and with James Comey. The New York Times reports:

Mr. McCabe’s memos were left at the F.B.I., which means that Mr. Mueller’s investigators have access to them as they work to corroborate Mr. Comey’s account.

McCabe reportedly met with Trump three times. [More...]

Vanessa Trump, wife of Donald Jr. and mother of their five young children, has filed for divorce. Her lawyer is a New York criminal defense attorney named David Feurelson.

Ivana Trump had a very prominent criminal defense attorney, Michael Kennedy (R.I.P.) as her divorce attorney.

The split has been a long-time coming, according to the media. Vanessa allegedly doesn't like that Don. Jr. is always traveling or the constant attention due to the Trump name or his tweeting.

One article said they had hoped to stay married through Donald's occupancy of the oval office, but their differences were too great.

They obviously have a pre-nup, and apparently have worked out child custody as Vanessa filed the petition as "an uncontested proceeding" which means neither party has to appear.

Donald Trump apparently thinks he can remake his battered image through hiring television pundits for important policy positions in his administration.

Meanwhile, Stormy Daniels says she can "describe his junk perfectly."

What a farce.

What's not a farce: Robert Mueller is subpoenaing Trump Org.'s Russia records.

For the second time in a week, United is in the doghouse for its mishandling of a passenger's beloved canine: This weekend, a family checked its dog when flying from Oregon to Kansas City. When they went to doggie claim in Kansas City to retrieve their German Shephard named Irgo, they were handed a Great Dane.

Where was their beloved Irgo? Shipped to Japan by mistake. At least he didn't die, like the dog the owner was made to put in the overhead bin, but still, this is pretty bad. The dog is now en route back home from Japan. I won't be surprised if it develops a serious case of PTSD from the ordeal.

Physicist Stephen Hawkings has died. He was 76.

A former sheriff's deputy named Michael Hari who put in a bid to build Trump's border wall has been arrested on arson and illegal possession of firearms charges in relation to in a mosque bombing of in MN and an attempted bombing of a women's health clinic that provided abortions in Illinois.

The FBI alleges in the affidavit to the Complaint:

[Informants told the FBI] Hari said he would pay McWhorter and Morris $18,000 for their participation in the mosque bombing, according to the FBI affidavit. All three men allegedly drove up to Minnesota in a rented truck for the attack.

As to the mosque: m[More...]

Gina Haspel will be in charge of the CIA.

She reportedly ran a secret prison in Thailand in 2002 where terrorism suspects were waterboarded and subjected to other so-called enhanced interrogations.

Trump is considering the death penalty for drug dealers. Newt Gingrich once tried that.

Our last open thread is full, here is a new one.
All topics welcome.

Sam Nunberg wasn't done when he got off TV Monday night. At 11:30 pm, he called New York Magazine. Here's a transcript.

He thinks Jared stole money from the pile that Brad Parscale got from the campaign for his digital marketing work. He admits he has no evidence of this.

He claims he and Roger Stone were responsible for Trump's win. He hates Lewandowski and Hope Hicks (who he basically said rode Lewandowski's coattails to inch her way up.)

Here's the list of people whose communications he says were sought by Mueller. I wonder why Jared and Parscale weren't on it.

Nunberg has been stewing in resentment for a long time. I read a similar interview with him days before his meltdown. (Haven't found it again yet, I'll update if I do.)

Netanyahu is in Washington to speak at the AIPAC conference. He's in trouble at home in a few corruption cases. He and his wife were questioned this weekend in a bribery plot. At least one close member of his staff flipped and said he was in on a plot to bribe media outlets. The principal advisor accusing him is Netanyahu’s "longtime confidant, journalist turned media adviser."

Hefetz was the mover, shaker, planner and executor of their darkest desires. He can testify to all four of the “major” investigations in which Netanyahu is involved or implicated, as well as to his own pivotal role in an alleged attempt to bribe a judge with an appointment as attorney general, in exchange for a pledge not to prosecute Sara Netanyahu.

Donald Trump met with Netanyahu today at the White House. Trump said he may visit Jerusalem in May for the opening of the new U.S. embassy.

The Embassy opening pertains to a retrofit of an old building. The actual embassy that is planned is years away from being built.

Will Jared go too? Or are peace talks DOA since the Palestineans won't agree to them.

This weekend, the U.S. embassy in Turkey was closed due to unspecified threats.

Yesterday, Turkey arrested four suspected ISIS members who were plotting an attack on the embassy. The four are Iraqi.

Turkey says it got the information from U.S sources.

“Upon intelligence coming to our units from U.S. sources that terrorist actions could be undertaken targeting the U.S. Embassy and where U.S. citizens are staying, security measures have been reviewed and extra measures have been taken,” the Governor’s Office said.

Elswhere in Turkey, another 12 foreign suspected ISIeS members have been arrested, and Turkish police are searching for another 8.

Those who have been detained are being "accused of trying to recruit members for ISIL and were 'in contact with people in conflict zones.' ”

I'm a little late posting this, and I missed the red carpet (but I'll catch up), so here is a running update by CBS, including a recap of Jimmy Kimmel's opening.

This is an open thread for all things Oscar related.

Italy is holding elections today. I wonder who is paying for Steve Bannon to be there?

Donald Trump is running for President again in 2020. Jared made a big announcement that Brad Parscale, the former website builder turned digital strategist and Facebook ad expert who unearthed Trump's underinformed, margainalized rural voters, will chair the re-election committee. The Trump campaign's digital marketing effort is still being investigated by Mueller and congressional committees. Parscale was tapped by Kushner for his role in the 2016 campaign. Now, he's brought Lara Trump on board for the 2020 campaign.

Homeowners at a Trump-managed hotel/condo in Panama City are fighting to get him out, claiming the Trump Org. has mismanaged the property and driven down occupancy rates and the value of their units.

I still like this article on the buyers who got nothing from a planned Trump Org. hotel in Baja, that never got built. People bought in because they believed he was developing the project. Ivanka Trump refuted that Trump Org. claimed to develop the property as opposed to just licensing its name, and said the Trump Org. was also a victim. I think the buyer's quoted in the article are more convincing.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome. Vent at your own pace. I'll put up another one in a few hours for the Oscars.

According to many media reports, Jared Kushner's role in setting White House policy may be ending. Mueller's investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election is broadening, and according to media sources and some who have been questioned by Mueller, the interest in Kushner's finances and whether there have been conflicts of interest is growing.

Vox has a good article summing up all Jared's travails, with source links. The New York Times added another yesterday.

There have been reports even Trump wants Jared and Ivanka to return to NY.

Mueller seems to be questioning everyone. I wonder where it will end for Jared: will he be cleared? Will he take a pre-indictment plea to some lesser charge and agree to cooperate against other Mueller targets, or will he hold on, and fight?

Hope Hicks has resigned as Donald Trump's communications director.

Hicks is reportedly the closest of anyone to Donald Trump. The New York Times says Trump is Losing a Limb.

Describing their relationship, Michael Wolff, in Fire and Fury (p. 260) says: [More...]

Reuters is reporting Jared Kushner has lost his interim security clearance that allows him access to Trump's daily briefings.

A third official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein recently passed new information to White House Counsel Don McGahn that led to the slowing or stopping of Kushner’s pending clearance application. The nature of that information was not clear.

It also is unclear if and when Kushner’s access to the briefing, known as the PDB, which requires clearance higher than the Top Secret level, would be reinstated.

Reuters reports this is unconfirmed, and it's not clear if or why he was refused permanent clearance but sources say has to do with his financial dealings.

This may mean nothing since Reuters also reports that Trump is authorized personally to grant him a top secret clearance. But there is more....[More...]