Trump, Jr’s calls with blocked numbers

It turns out that Trump, Jr.’s calls to a blocked number were to family friends and not to Trump. That still leaves lots of questions:

Did Trump know about the meeting? He says he didn’t but he lies all the time. If he got the calls, this would have proven he knew but it still doesn’t put him in the clear.
Why did they lie about the meeting? Trump prepared a false statement saying it was about adoptions.
If the calls were to business associates, why didn’t Trump, Jr. just provide that information?

NEWS: Senate investigators have obtained information that shows Donald Trump Jr.'s calls with a blocked number surrounding the Trump Tower meeting were NOT with his father, but with two business associates. W/ @PamelaBrownCNN @mkraju https://t.co/IGZFmZnNPS
— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) January 31, 2019

Trump Jr.'s calls ahead of 2016 Trump Tower meeting weren’t with his father

"[This] new information doesn't change the fundamental concern about what the President knew. It just means he wasn't those blocked numbers — not that he didn't know about the meeting." – @ChrisCuomo pic.twitter.com/52wgF7bW1Q
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) February 1, 2019

.@DonaldJTrumpJr on the speculation the blocked numbers had belonged to his father: “After a year of hearing about this one ad nauseam, yet another left-wing narrative officially bites the dust.” https://t.co/Fh6Z3BWeqU
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 1, 2019

He could have just told us who he called.

Didn’t say it exonerated Trump. Just said it undermined the case because there had been widespread suspicion that Don Jr had called the old man prior to meeting. https://t.co/5OLRgNicN3
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 1, 2019

“I believe that there are serious questions about Donald Trump Jr.’s appearance before our committee … I’m suggesting there are serious questions. He needs to come back before the committee. He ought to be subpoenaed,” says Dem @SenBlumenthal of the Senate Judiciary Committee. pic.twitter.com/e1p3jppEtZ
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) January 31, 2019

As investigators learn Trump Jr.'s blocked calls weren't w/ his father, Rep @GerryConnolly notes theirs is a relationship where "son really wants to make daddy happy," adding it "stretches credulity to believe he never told" his dad about the 2016 meeting.https://t.co/VnqsQ77xjX pic.twitter.com/2OAn3H96sk
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) February 1, 2019

The fact that Trump Jr’s phone calls to blocked numbers around the time he set up the Trump Tower meeting weren’t with his Dad is not proof the two didn’t discuss the meeting in some other setting. https://t.co/EqviGVLHzF
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) February 1, 2019

Per CNN and ABC: Don Jr.'s blocked phone calls before Russia meeting weren't to Trump. These are the calls Adam Schiff considered suspicious and planned to probe. https://t.co/8JwPYUZmuw
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) February 1, 2019

Who are you going to believe?

Trump is like the old Marx Brothers line:

I saw someone on Twitter refer to this – it’s like Trump saying are you going to believe him or the testimony that was on TV? The line from Duck Soup is usually attributed to Groucho but it’s Chico dressed up as Groucho.

Trump is such a liar!

Income inequality articles roundup 1/31/19

Via @axios: https://t.co/cBz7mBbRkg pic.twitter.com/gz9TN68xHD
— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) January 21, 2019

Income inequality doesn’t happen overnight. It happens gradually, such as by weakening unions or refusing to raise the minimum wage. That’s why it’s so critical when elections come around that we vote in elected officials who will represent the people. https://t.co/vZf2kwgRBU
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 24, 2018

Do the wealthiest 0.1% own about as much as the bottom 90% as @ewarren said?
It's close, tho estimates vary.
Mostly True.https://t.co/tKxLpwVuy9 pic.twitter.com/2ixlOQDBzY
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 1, 2019

The world's billionaires are growing $2.5 billion richer every day, and the 26 richest are as wealthy as the 3.8 billion poorest people combined, according to a new Oxfam International report https://t.co/TZUjXSmQ6q
— CNN (@CNN) January 23, 2019

Trump's economy is great for billionaires, not for working people | Bernie Sanders https://t.co/p5uLPPsNB9
— The Guardian (@guardian) January 16, 2019

With black and Latino votes in the balance in the Democratic presidential primary, would-be candidates are already developing aggressive policies to target the racial wealth gap. It could become a litmus test in 2020, @fivefifths writes: https://t.co/ixMm5dXnRj
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) January 17, 2019

Update on Trump judicial picks

For many of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters, there has been no issue more important than stacking the federal bench with conservative judges. Many on the right are now fearing a retreat. https://t.co/MiElSz2n63
— POLITICO (@politico) January 31, 2019

The president’s 84 confirmed judges are 76 percent male and 91 percent white. https://t.co/bFJWODuTQv
— Slate (@Slate) January 24, 2019

Thank you, Senator Harris. Feinstein and the rest of the Senate Dems should stand with Harris here and vow to oppose all of Trump's circuit court judges going forward. This is the least they can do.https://t.co/oaTazur872
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 31, 2019

SC’s Tim Scott still opposes Thomas Farr, has sharp words for conservative critics https://t.co/cOny1ApemI
— Thomas Edsall (@Edsall) January 31, 2019

The White House has announced Trump's slate of judicial nominees to serve on California's influential Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has consistently thwarted some of the president's signature policies. https://t.co/bp4EZQjqkG
— Axios (@axios) January 31, 2019

The White House has announced its intention to renominate 50 judicial nominees https://t.co/F8yL2axjue
— CNN (@CNN) January 23, 2019

Drugs captured at a port of entry

Here are drugs that would not be stopped by Trump’s wall.

They seized this fentanyl at the PORT OF ENTRY.
At the PORT OF ENTRY.
PORT OF ENTRY.
(am I being too subtle). #wall https://t.co/FEj4eSgAEp
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) January 31, 2019

I want to add: bravo to @CBP.
In a normal world, this would be heralded as fantastic news showing how our efforts can stop the devastation of #fentanyl.
But since the only focus of WH is with a wall — rather than tough border protection efforts — it's viewed in that context. https://t.co/BTJdq63DcW
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) January 31, 2019

AT

A

PORT

OF

ENTRY https://t.co/SZGs8dgq0U
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) February 1, 2019

Mark my words: Trump will tweet about the massive Fentanyl seizure in AZ.

Mark my words: He will not mention it was at a port of entry, where a border wall wouldn't matter.https://t.co/7sVwurRSQK
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) January 31, 2019

CBP announces *massive* seizure of fentanyl at AZ border.

Guess where? Port of entry, not desert.

Guess who? Mexican national, not Central American asylum seeker.

Guess how? In a tractor-trailer, not a backpack.

Guess what didn't stop it? A wall. Agents using technology did. https://t.co/zoLG3Iuvdj
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) January 31, 2019

Record-breaking bust at @CBPArizona Port of Entry in Nogales.
☀️254 lbs of fentanyl (mainly powder) – Worth $3.5 million
☀️395 lbs of meth – Worth $1.18 million
☀️Hidden in an 18-wheeler carrying cucumbers, beneath fake bottom
☀️26-year-old Mexican national arrested pic.twitter.com/U8B2w6XilW
— Mireya Villarreal (@cbsmireya) January 31, 2019

The drugs were discovered on a trailer coming through a legal port of entry, the way most narcotics enter the US. They usually don't arrive through unfenced border areas. https://t.co/IAabw7jbgV
— Anthony Zurcher (@awzurcher) January 31, 2019

Climate change update 1/31/19

Nature is only going to get weirder and more dangerous as climate change gets worse https://t.co/3qLeSCx4QV
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) February 11, 2019

Freezing temperatures are part of climate change.

Why global warming is responsible for the freezing temperatures across the U.S. this week: https://t.co/yobaIcpqGp pic.twitter.com/OS3jWBMzJy
— Forbes (@Forbes) January 30, 2019

Map also overlays fairly closely to where the bulk of the population of black Americans, who in the aggregate have fewer resources to survive these changes, live. https://t.co/YMlVJIwFDf
— jelani cobb (@jelani9) February 1, 2019

Important multimedia reporting on climate change from @ZoeannMurphy and @chriscmooney. Just one of many eyeopening revelations: Montana forests used to pull 20 tons of carbon from air, now b/c of drought and bark beetles they EMIT million of tons. https://t.co/9IvATJ7Ocz
— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) January 29, 2019

European colonizers killed so many Native Americans that it changed the global climate, researchers say https://t.co/1k1CZTjU5d pic.twitter.com/fK3h3N2gtZ
— CNN (@CNN) February 1, 2019

This is just fantastic. Apparently climate deniers think that solar panels are powered by heat… https://t.co/u6RwHyjeKD
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 31, 2019

Trump lies when he says the wall is being built now

Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are wasting their time. Democrats, despite all of the evidence, proof and Caravans coming, are not going to give money to build the DESPERATELY needed WALL. I’ve got you covered. Wall is already being built, I don’t expect much help!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2019

Claims about The Wall have gotten harder to fact-check in the last month. Both sides have shifted in what they consider “wall,” taking cues from Trump’s shifts. https://t.co/VEmjenjUKZ
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 31, 2019

President Trump keeps saying, "The wall is getting built."

Fact check: This is false. No construction has begun on the wall President Trump promised. The president said he would be going to a "ground breaking" for the wall around the time of SOTU and that hasn't happened.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) January 31, 2019

Trump on border $ standoff w/Pelosi: “we’re building the wall right now. a lot of people don’t know that”
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) January 31, 2019

Trump spins out a long tale about how he built a wall on the border in CA, and "as soon as it was finished," Democrats decided they were against building walls. Only problem is, the fence along the CA border was built decades ago.
— David Lauter (@DavidLauter) January 31, 2019

Fact check: President Trump tweeted Thursday morning that his border wall is under construction. It's not. https://t.co/jEXwsxzHfB
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 31, 2019

Donald Trump just got on TV and said the wall is being built right now because he's a liar who can't stop but telling lies.
— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) January 31, 2019

Trump made only 28 false claims last week

"Quiet" now means a mere "28 false claims" in a week https://t.co/0DlYn4eYCL
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 30, 2019

Russia is trying to discredit Mueller

BREAKING / NBC News: Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team says that discovery they shared with defense attorneys associated with 'Putin's Chef' appeared online in October of last year in an apparent disinformation campaign to discredit the ongoing investigations.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) January 30, 2019

It's really disturbing that this propaganda campaign by Trump—and the Russians—may be working https://t.co/8M9ATb8cZ2
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) January 30, 2019

Incredible. As Mueller toils away, his investigation is being targeted… https://t.co/udA6o776pk
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) January 30, 2019