Putin-Gate Heating Up Rapidly

I can only imagine how the Trumpist regime felt Friday night when someone told them that craven worm Darrell Issa was on Bill Maher's show Friday calling for a Putin-Gate special prosecutor, something that would lead directly to impeachment for Pepe. Watch the Maddow clip above that explains the latest twist in the saga, the twist that should end Reince Priebus' time as Chief of Staff.

Rick Allen and Sushannah Walshe explained it this way for ABC News as Saturday's Big Story:

The Russia affair gets a new twist with the revelation that White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute reports that Trump campaign officials were in frequent contact with Russian intelligence agents prior to the election. There are questions of propriety here: The FBI is supposed to be able to conduct its investigations independently, without any White House involvement. And the bureau isn’t supposed to play politics by commenting on active investigations, as Clinton campaign vets remember too well. There is also irony: Priebus was asking the FBI to comment without names attached, while decrying as “fake news” stories that rely on such sourcing. What’s more, the willingness to employ the FBI for political battle demonstrates when Trump advisers cast the media as the “opposition party,” it’s more than words. “Every day, it’s going to be a fight,” White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said Thursday at CPAC. Added Priebus, sitting slightly uncomfortably to Bannon’s left: “If the party and the conservative movement are together, similar to Steve and I, it can't be stopped.” It appears that in this battle, there’s no resource of the federal government that the White House considers off-limits.

But, as Maddow pointed out, it wasn't just the FBI and intelligence agencies being pressured by the Regime. The heads of the Intelligence committees were pressured and have both now admitted that they made secret calls to journalists telling them there's no proof-- which their committees are supposedly starting to look for-- that Trump's campaign conspired with Putin to steal the election. Senator Burr has 5 years for the stench of this to wash off him before he has to face North Carolina voters again. Devin Nunes, on the other hand, has to count on DCCC incompetence to save him next year.

Only Fresno and Tulare county voters can force Devin Nunes to do his job

Nunes' Central Valley House seat is pretty safely Republican-- but not nearly as safe as it was when he was first elected in 2002. The PVI is still rated a daunting R+10 but the demographics have shifted precipitously. Cook, which assigns the PVIs, is always at least cycle or two behind. Only 41.9% of Nunes' constituents are white now and one day-- who knows?-- the DCCC might decide to target him. They should. Nunes shouldn't be given any more free rides. He seems to think the function of chairman of the is covering up the Trump Regime's malfeasance in their activities regarding Putin. His comment a week or so ago about Michael Flynn being fired for Putin-related activities, likely to include accepting bribes and probably treason as well, was that "Washington, D.C. can be a rough town for honorable people, and Flynn-- who has always been a soldier, not a politician-- deserves America’s gratitude and respect for dedicating so much of his life to strengthening our national security. I thank him for his many years of distinguished service." When pressed, Nunes told reporters that he would not investigate Flynn's discussions with Trump about his calls with Putin's ambassador. He's following the Republican Party line, in a knee-jerk fashion, that the "real story" is how the Trumpist Regime is being undermined by leaks. And he said he wants to investigate that instead.

In 2012 Romney took Nunes' district with 56.6% of the vote. Trump's share in November was just 52.1%, even though he faced a far weaker candidate. Nunes' district, CA-22, is made up of large sections of Fresno and Tulare counties, although it doesn't include any of the city of Fresno itself. Clovis, Visalia and Tulare are the biggest population centers. The DCCC didn't contest the seat-- guaranteeing that Nunes will feel no obligation to worry about accountability in Congress-- and he beat an unknown, under-funded opponent, Louie Campos 143,333 (68.2%) to 66,802 (31.8%). Nunes raised $2,459,235 for the campaign this year while Campos didn't raise the $5,000 that would have triggered an FEC report. Nunes knows that with the way the DCCC works currently-- no multi-cycle efforts ever-- he will never be forced to alter his behavior to appease the voters. We'll soon see if the DCCC empowers their new West Coast regional vice-chair, Ted Lieu, to change that and give Nunes something to think about besides covering up Trump's crimes.