Yesterday I reported on some shady shenanigans by Republican operatives who attempted to smear Democratic presidential contender Mayor Pete Buttigieg by alleging false accusations of sexual assault.
The allegations were made in the name of Hunter Kelly, a Michigan college student, but more details have come to light about the right-wing trolls who plotted the scheme.
Kelly tells The Daily Beastthat he had been communicating with known hoax-ster Jacob Wohl for several weeks. But last week, Wohl invited Kelly to the home of Jack Burkman in Baltimore to discuss gathering dirt on Mayor Pete as part of a “task force” set up by the Trump administration.
Wohl and partner Jack Burkman apparently paid for Kelly’s ticket to Baltimore and the duo picked him up shortly after midnight.
According to a statement posted on his Facebook, Kelly says the two revealed a “draft” of an article that was to be posted on Medium accusing Buttigieg of sexually assaulting Kelly. Kelly says he wasn’t feeling comfortable about the idea, but Wohl told him to sleep on it as they had talked until about 4am.
(statement via Hunter Kelly’s Facebook – click image to enlarge)
But when Kelly awoke the next morning, Wohl allegedly informed the Michigan college student that the article had already been posted in Kelly’s name. Burkman apparently told Kelly that he was a “star” and people were “eating” him up.
After a lunch of Subway sandwiches, Kelly writes that he was feeling regretful about the lie, but was told with the article already posted “turning back on what had been published would look bad.”
Kelly asserts that Burkman promised to buy him “any house I wanted” to stay involved with the scam. It was during those discussions that Kelly says he was pressured into signing a ‘script’ about the fake sexual assault which was to have taken place in February at “the fancy Mayflower Hotel” in D.C.
Kelly’s statement goes on to say he spent the next hours dodging “hate mail and reporters left and right while getting dozens of texts from friends and family asking why the media was contacting them.”
He eventually ‘escaped’ from Burkman’s home by faking a nap, and calling his family to come pick him up. When he was informed his family had arrived, Kelly says he rushed downstairs and left saying he couldn’t take part in the scheme because “that is not the type of person I am.”
Kelly says Wohl posted more fake tweets on an account Wohl and Burkman had created where Kelly appeared distraught.
This isn’t Burkman and Wohl’s first trip to the fake scandal rodeo.
Additionally, The Daily Beastreports a second man has come forward saying Burkman & Wohl approached him about a similar scheme. He says he not only met with the two, but recorded the conversation. The Daily Beastconfirms they’ve heard the recording.
Kelly says he traveled to meet with the conservative provocateurs with the intention of “seeing what LEGITIMATE dirt we could get on Buttigieg.”
In his statement, he says he was never in D.C. in February; never met Buttigieg; and never been a victim of sexual assault.
“Jack Burkman may have promised me a lavish lifestyle, but at a price that would cost me the two most important things to me: honesty and integrity,” writes Kelly. “Had I gone forward with this despicable scheme they concocted, I would have lost both of those things and became another one of their useless pawns.”
Kelly also calls Wohl and Burkman “the real danger to our country.”
In response, Burkman alleges that it was Kelly who reached out to him to meet.
Burkman posted a copy of the signed ‘script’ along with a photo of Kelly holding his ID with the caption, “1. Very first thing Hunter Kelly did is sign a statement attesting to his accusation 2. He was in full control of all public disclosures, even taking a selfie with his ID to confirm his identity to @MediumSupport MSM bullied him & his family into submission”
Burkman has also tweeted calling Kelly his “former client” who was “pressured out of telling his truth.”
1. Very first thing Hunter Kelly did is sign a statement attesting to his accusation 2. He was in full control of all public disclosures, even taking a selfie with his ID to confirm his identity to @MediumSupport MSM bullied him & his family into submission pic.twitter.com/myXPc1YegL
jacob wohl: i have an idea jack burkman: shoot jacob wohl: u know that thing we tried to do to mueller and got caught? jack burkman: yeah jacob wohl: lets do that exact idea to pete jack burkman: u are a prodigy and have surpassed mozart
The guy Jacob Wohl allegedly roped into accusing Pete Buttigieg of sexual assault has a WILD story about how it happened. Subway sandwiches are involved. https://t.co/6iBlFaZkj6
Woofy Brian Sims of Pennsylvania does not suffer fools gladly.
It all began when Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican who was recently elected to the U.S. Senate, took to Twitter to blame Democrats for the shutdown of several federal departments and agencies.
“I am disappointed to see that the Senate Democrats chose to shut down our government instead of secure our southern border,” wrote Blackburn on Saturday. “The American people deserve to be protected against drug cartels and human traffickers.”
As has been widely reported, the current government shutdown occurred because Donald Trump reneged on an agreed upon bipartisan plan to fund the government until February.
But when far-right political pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter criticized Trump for not getting $5 billion to fund the beginning of his infamous wall along the Mexican border, it was more than Trump could take. And so, he reversed course demanding his ‘wall money.’
In a meeting ten days before the shutdown, Trump even told Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer that he would be “proud” to shut down the government.
“I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck,” Trump told the Democrats in a televised meeting in the Oval Office. “Because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people who have lots of problems — and drugs — pouring into our country. I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.”
Sims, the hunky gay Democratic state lawmaker in Pennsylvania, called out Blackburn on Twitter for her “outright lie.”
“Marsha, all spin aside, this post is just an outright lie,” Sims clarified on Twitter. “It’s no a play on what really happened. It’s a complete fabrication. This is the kind of bold-faced lie that makes people hate politics and politicians. From one elected official to another: Stop Lying. It’s gross.”
Marsha, all spin aside, this post is just an outright lie. It’s no a play on what really happened. It’s a complete fabrication. This is the kind of bold-faced lie that makes people hate politics and politicians. From one elected official to another: Stop Lying. It’s gross.
Blackburn, who has been a Trump toadie for a long time, was merely repeating what her idol has been tweeting since the funding debacle bubbled up last week.
According to The New York Times, the Trump shutdown will likely last into the new year when a new Congress is sworn in and the Democrats take control of the House.
The shutdown has shuttered the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Housing and more. Some 400,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed as we head into Christmas.
My man Brian has never shied away from calling out GOP politicians for lying.
When anti-LGBTQ Vice President Mike Pence was heading into Philadelphia (Sims’ district) for a visit this past June, Sims ‘welcomed’ the veep with a controversial image giving Pence the finger.
“To be clear, we’re a City of soaring diversity. We believe in the power of all people to live and to contribute: Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Atheist, Immigrant, we want you and we’ll respect you,” Sims wrote on Facebook. “So keep that in mind while you’re here raising money to attack more families, spread more lies, blaspheme with your bible, and maybe even talk to a woman without your wife in the room.”
I’ve been a fan of the woofy Sims for years. Let’s take a stroll through his Instagram, shall we?
Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty this morning in a New York court to lying to Congress regarding a Moscow real estate project that Trump and his company pursued during the months he was running for president.
Trump repeatedly said during the 2016 campaign he had no deals, interests or financial ties in or to Russia.
In a nine-page filing, prosecutors laid out a litany of lies that Cohen admitted he told to congressional lawmakers about the Moscow project — an attempt, Cohen said, to minimize links between the proposed development and Trump as his presidential bid was taking off.
Cohen falsely said efforts to build a Trump-branded tower in Moscow ended in January 2016, when in fact discussions continued through that year, the filing said. Among the people Cohen briefed on the status of the project was Trump himself, on more than three occasions, according to the document.
Trump has repeatedly said that he had no business dealings in Russia, tweeting in July 2016, “For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia” and telling reporters in January 2017 that he had no deals there because he had “stayed away.”
Tom Winter of NBC News was in the court room and reports on what Cohen testified to:
BREAKING: Michael Cohen names the president in court involving Moscow project, and discussions that he alleges continued into 2017. @Tom_Winter explains after attending the court hearing this morning. https://t.co/6VteqRXgoDpic.twitter.com/iw9Mld32KV
Trump immediately told reporters that he could have pursued the deal in Russia and there would have been nothing wrong with that, but he didn’t.
He went on to say the man who was his personal lawyer for years and years is “a weak person.”
TRUMP, speaking to reporters outside the White House, says Michael Cohen is “a weak person. And by being weak, unlike other people that you watch, he’s a weak person, and what he’s trying to do is get a reduced sentence. So he is lying about a project everybody knew about.” pic.twitter.com/QVSGJcoRa6
Trump less than an hour ago: “I will probably be meeting with President Putin. We haven’t terminated that meeting. I was thinking about it, but they’d like to have it. I think it’s a very good time to have the meeting. ” https://t.co/iikpOXs7xQ
One more thing – don’t forget this email from Felix Sater to Michael Cohen in 2015 saying, “Buddy, our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it.”
Reminder of a Felix Sater email sent to Michael Cohen in 2015:
“Buddy our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Sater wrote. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.” https://t.co/4fbCWHQpN9
After Fox News pundit Sean Hannity specifically said that he would not appear onstage with Donald Trump at a campaign rally last night:
In spite of reports, I will be doing a live show from Cape Girardeau and interviewing President Trump before the rally. To be clear, I will not be on stage campaigning with the President. I am covering final rally for my show. Something I have done in every election in the past.
Sean Hannity and Judge Jeanine stumped for President Trump, prompting comparisons between Fox News and the state-run media normally seen in authoritarian regimes. pic.twitter.com/tgwjEAcbu5
While onstage, Hannity made a point to gesture to the press covering the event, including cameras for Fox News and declared, “Fake news.”
Fellow Fox News personality Judge Jeanine Pirro also showed up to trumpet the Trumpster.
Fox News wasn’t happy:
Fox chides Hannity and Pirro for participating in last night’s Trump rally: “Fox News does not condone any talent participating in campaign events. … This was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed.”
Donald Trump’s own hand-picked FBI Director, Christopher Wray, directly contradicted the White House’s timeline regarding now-departed staff secretary Rob Porter’s background security check.
The White House told the press that Porter’s alleged domestic abuse only came to light this month.
But testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee today, Wray told lawmakers the FBI completed a partial report in March, finished a final report in July, and delivered responses to follow up requests in November.
The White House has never mentioned receiving a report in March. And White House spokesman Raj Shah told reporters that the background check was never completed.
Wray just contradicted WH timeline on Porter saying FBI “completed background investigation in late July.” WH spox Shah said last week background investigation was “ongoing.” pic.twitter.com/1keHbXUJZu
The testimony of FBI Director Wray directly contradicts both @PressSec & @RajShah45. So did both Sanders and Shah decide independently to lie to the American people? Or did someone higher up in the White House tell them a lie that they then repeated? https://t.co/b7JViHHtJh
• Submitted partial report in March • Completed background investigation in late July • Received request for follow up, provided info in Nov. • Closed the file in Jan. • Received and passed on new info earlier this month pic.twitter.com/ucNcgge4vz
I’ve posted in the past about a married couple of haters in Australia who “threatened” to divorce should marriage equality come to the land “down under.”
Back in June 2015, Nick and Sarah Jensen of Canberra swore to divorce in protest if the government legalized same-sex marriage.
It will come as no surprise the threat was an empty one as Parliament has resoundingly approved marriage equality.
And after Parliament finally passed the law to cheers on Thursday afternoon, Mr Jensen announced his position in a statement to Daily Mail Australia. “My previous public comments regarding civil divorce never envisaged me separating from my wife, but rather our marriage from the State,” he wrote.
“The legislation currently makes it untenable for us to do this under the law. The point we were highlighting and that still stands however is the fact that a redefinition of marriage changes the agreement under which we were originally married. We will be making no further comment.”
Here’s Nick Jansen’s statement from 2015:
“My wife and I just celebrated our 10-year anniversary. But later this year, we may be getting a divorce. The decision to divorce is not one we’ve taken lightly. And certainly, it’s not one that many will readily understand. And that’s because it’s not a traditional divorce. Our view is that marriage is a fundamental order of creation. Part of God’s human history. Marriage is the union of a man and a woman before a community in the sight of God. And marriage of any couple is important to God regardless of whether that couple recognises God’s involvement or authority in it.”
FBI Director James Comey testified this morning that neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice has any evidence to support President Trump’s allegations that President Obama ordered Trump Tower’s phones to be wiretapped during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Comey also acknowledged that the FBI is, indeed, investigating Russia’s actions during the 2016 election and the Russian government’s ties to the Trump campaign:
I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.
FBI Director Comey says he has no information that supports Trump’s tweets regarding wiretapping
Comey’s opening statement—confirming FBI is investigating any possible links between Trump associates & Russian meddling in US election pic.twitter.com/yw81JEnmOX