Strange developments: Flynn, Cohen, Papadopoulos...and (God help us all) SNOOKI?

Kind of a joke that the guy who chanted, "Lock her up" would claim he didn't know he shouldn't lie to the FBI without a warning.
— David Corn

Yes, the Russiagate story now includes Snooki. Or so says one source. We'll get to that soon...

The Flynn thing keeps getting stranger and stranger.

If he cooperated with Mueller as fully as Mueller claims, why did the Trumpers recently mount an agit-prop campaign to convince the public that Flynn was railroaded (even though his incriminating conversations with Kislyak were recorded by the NSA)? Why don't the Trumpers talk about Flynn the same way they talk about Cohen?

Marcy makes a marvelous catch. We recently learned that Jared Kushner became, after the election, the link-man between the Trump White House and the National Enquirer. It would therefore seem likely that Jared was behind that instantly-infamous cover pictured to your right.

The "spy" was Flynn, allegedly. At that time, Flynn was the designated fall guy -- the Elisha Cook Jr. of this little melodrama. As Marcy points out, before Flynn cut that deal with the FBI, he signed no less than five proffer memos.

But after this cover came out, Trump fired Comey because Comey wouldn't help Flynn. So something happened behind the scenes.

If Flynn helped Mueller, why isn't the pro-Trump media publishing anti-Flynn propaganda now? I want this story to make sense, dammit!

Speaking of Cohen: Did you hear Trump make those weird semi-allegations about Michael Cohen's father-in-law, Fima Shusterman? Apparently, Shusterman and Trump linked up well before Cohen and Trump linked up. From Vanity Fair:

Insiders have suggested that Cohen was introduced to Trump by his father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, who was involved in the once-lucrative taxi-medallion business and was later convicted of a money-laundering related offense. “Fima may have been a (possibly silent) business partner with Trump, perhaps even used as a conduit for Russian investors in Trump properties and other ventures,” a former federal investigator told journalist Seth Hettena, who is publishing a book on Trump’s Russia ties.

Also see here:

Cohen has longstanding ties to Ukraine. His father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, is a naturalized citizen from Ukraine with a long-reported history of criminal dealings. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS in the 1990s. In 1993, he was convicted on charges related to money laundering along with two of his business partners. Shusterman also had ties to the Trump Organization that predate Cohen’s, reportedly “funneling money into Trump ventures” in the 1990s.

In his statement, Trump rambled quasi-nonsensically, as he often does: "His father-in-law’s a very rich guy, I hear." That's right: Trump said "I hear" even though we know from other sources that Trump met Cohen through Shusterman.  

The subtext seemed to be: "You fuck with me, Michael, and we'll go after your father-in-law." Isn't it too late for a threat like that? Cohen's only real chance is to bring Trump down.

And now for the strangest developments of all...

Papadopoulos. Scott Stedman has offered a remarkable new story about George Papadopoulos, who, despite making a deal with Mueller, seems to be back in Trump's good graces -- in fact, he's talking about running for office. From the Stedman piece:

Federal authorities out of Washington DC, working in coordination with Robert Mueller’s team, have in recent days sought to arrange an interview with the author of a letter sent to Congress last month that claimed that ex-Trump adviser George Papadopoulos coordinated with Russians in the weeks following the 2016 election. The person who wrote the letter is expected to travel to DC for an interview with the FBI about the claims, per two U.S. officials involved and the author of the letter. All three have requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.

The memo sent to Congressman Adam Schiff by a former confidant of Papadopoulos on November 19, as first reported by this reporter and Natasha Bertrand of the Atlantic, made a series of allegations against the ex-Trump campaign adviser. First and foremost, the letter claimed that in December 2016, Papadopoulos said “that he was doing a business deal with Russians which would result in large financial gain for himself and Mr. Trump. Mr. Papadopoulos told me that this deal with Russians would set him up for life.” The author also says that (s)he witnessed a phone call between Trump and Papadopoulos.

Here is the new Natasha Bertrand story.

Separately, this reporter has in recent weeks communicated with the author of the letter in which evidence was shared that proved their proximity to Papadopoulos in late 2016 and early 2017. The evidence includes messages and photos and the person’s identity was independently corroborated by a family member of Papadopoulos who confirmed that they had been aware of Papadopolous’s association with the person. Though none of the major claims in the letter have been substantiated, some of the underlying details have. Messages from Papadopoulos to the confidant included the phrase “I am set for life.” The Papadopoulos associate said that this message was in reference to a Russian business deal.

If you read the rest of Bertrand's piece, she offers lots of juicy details about Paps and Sergei Millian, one of Christopher Steele's sources.

On a podcast with Dan Bongino in early November (timestamp 43:35), Papadopoulos says that Millian reached out on LinkedIn in July 2016 and the two met in Chicago. In October 2016, Millian once again asked Papadopoulos to meet, saying that he had an interesting private sector offer. According to Papadopoulos, Millian said, “I have a deal for you for $30,000 a month, a great office in Manhattan, it’s simply PR…for some ex-Minister in Russia, but the qualifier is that you have to work for Trump at the same time and you can’t tell anybody.”

This version of events conflicts with the story told by Mrs. Papadopoulos. Speaking to the Daily Caller, Mrs. Papadopoulos stated that Millian “offered her husband a job working for the Russian energy company Bashneft.” Bashneft is a subsidiary Rosneft, the Russian conglomorate that Mr. Steele alleged was involved in a quid-pro-quo with Carter Page and other members of the Trump team.

I suspect GP's wife Simona is the family member who offered confirmation. Again, I suggest you watch the interview with her in this Australian documentary, filmed at a time when GP was derided as a mere coffee boy, and before he went full MAGA on us. (Fast forward to the 34 minute mark.)

Now step back. Let it all sink in.

Papadopolous was a young go-getter who had no business acting as a foreign policy advisor to a presidential candidate. He simply did not have the experience. Yet Trump named him as one of his top five guys.

Even if the "set for life" claim can't be verified, we know that he was in deep with the Russians. Before the election, he was trying to set up a meeting between Putin and Trump; it was Jeff Sessions who (wisely) shut down the idea.

In the interview, Simona says that Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn "encouraged" Papadopoulos to set up the Putin/Trump meeting.

So who wrote the letter? Right now, the only clue I have is this contribution to Bertrand's twitter feed...

This is weird, but a couple of weeks ago George Papadopolous's wife, Simona, tweeted that Snookie from Jersey Shore was both her husband's ex-girlfriend and the woman who wrote this letter.

Whaaaaaaaat?

Is this a joke? Is this one of those imaginary stories that Gardner F. Fox used to write for DC comics? I know that the gods have a sense of humor, but can their sense of humor possibly be this twisted?

Following the Trump tale has forced us to deal with professional wrestling, the National Enquirer, a naked First Lady, a Playboy model, a porn star, a pedophile billionaire, and golden showers (if not at Moscow, then certainly in Vegas). And now...SNOOKI?

What's next? Is someone going to claim that Trump made a pass at Honey Boo-Boo? At this point, the only difference between real life and The Onion is that real life doesn't call itself The Onion.

(I never finished reading Ulysses, but I know who Snooki is. That's just wrong. I'm disgusted with myself.)  

Here is Simona's most recent tweet:

I am available anytime to talk to the FBI again & share info about the person who is making false allegations about George, her true intentions and the messages she sent to me months ago. For the sake of America don’t divert investigators with a slanderous vendetta.

It sure as hell sounds like the author of the letter is the proverbial "woman scorned." At least, that's how Simona portrays her. I've seen no other indications that Snooki is the scorned lady in question.

Meanwhile, Pap's book is titled Deep State Target: How I Got Caught in the Crosshairs of the Plot to Bring Down President Trump. It'll be out in a few months, at which time it will probably be used to justify shutting down the Mueller probe. Description:

The only firsthand account that proves the attempted sabotage of Donald Trump's presidential campaign by American and international intelligence services, from former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos―whose global network, clandestine meetings about Hillary Clinton's hacked emails, and rift with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions made him the first target of Spygate, the Mueller Investigation, and the Russian Collusion Hoax

Oh boy. How many people are going to buy into this horseshit about a nonexistent "Deep State" conspiracy against Trump? Again: When Aussie TV interviewed Simona months ago, she didn't prattle on about the Deep State. She talked about Mifsud and the Russians.

"Set for life." Yeah, that's starting to sound credible. It's clear that Pap has to demolish this unnamed woman (who may or may not be Snooki) before she demolishes him.

Seriously. Snooki.

That can't be real.

(Can it...?)