*Intelligence Malpractice | Congress vs. The FBI | Fakebook

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A Populist President or Putin’s President?: In law, direct evidence refers to any piece of evidence that stands alone to prove an assertion. On the other hand, circumstantial evidence refers to a set of facts that, when taken together, lead to a desired conclusion. Unlike direct evidence, circumstantial evidence doesn’t stand alone; it requires the use of logical reasoning to prove a fact. Jonathan Chait’s lengthy article for New York Magazine uses both types to set out an alarming case of Donald Trump’s dealings with Russia going back 30 years, from his first visit to Moscow in 1987. He reminds us that Russian intelligence operates in subtle and patient ways, identifying people who show some vulnerability to blackmail that involves the exploitation of greed, stupidity, ego, and sexual appetite, all traits Trump has demonstrated. As Chait notes: “if the Russians hadn’t zeroed in on Trump—a man whose venality, vanity and vulgarity are like a menu of recruitable weaknesses—they’d have been guilty of intelligence malpractice.”

The president’s supporters might choose to castigate, dismiss, or ignore Chait’s conclusions. But Tom Nichols, a specialist in Russian affairs with experience extending back to the Cold War, says his piece deserves a fair reading. Nichols believes neither Chait’s narrative nor his conclusions, with few exceptions, is unreasonable. He says that rather than looking for silver bullets that either directly indict or exonerate the president, Chait’s readers should follow the argument about a pattern of interaction that would raise the suspicions of even the most amateur intelligence analyst. As Nichols argues: “These facts, from the depth of Trump’s financial dealings to the personal connections of some of his top advisers and campaign staff to the Putin regime, are (or should be) undeniable. It is impossible to see the total picture and reach the conclusion that there is an innocent explanation behind it all. There’s simply too much to explain away…it is fundamentally a damning tally of the degree to which the Russian state has woven itself into the life of the current commander in chief.”

Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is out with a new book, release date July 24, in which he dramatically compares the work of a press secretary to that of fighter jet pilot, champion boxer and tightrope artist. Spicer purportedly sets the record straight on a number of little episodes and scandals from the Trump campaign and early presidency. One way he decidedly differs from President Trump is in his characterization of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The president characterized Manafort as a “minor campaign figure”, and Spicer himself, while still in the administration, said Manafort had “played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time.” Spicer corrects those versions to say that actually, Manafort had an important and impactful role and was a central figure in the campaign. But that aside, Spicer’s admiration for Trump shines through all of his reflections on the frustrations of his job.

Congress vs. The FBI: FBI agent Peter Strzok was excoriated Thursday by angry Republicans at a ‘hearing to investigate the investigators’ (and to throw more dirt on special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign). The sparring was so heated and chaotic that at one point Strzok was threatened with a contempt citation. Strzok, a deputy assistant director at the FBI who oversaw counterintelligence cases, was the lead agent on FBI probes into Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign. He has been made the subject of an internal misconduct probe over emails he exchanged in 2016 with his inamorata, then-FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

The emails contained personal views that disparaged Trump and expressed the desire he not win the election. Under oath, Strzok repeatedly denied his political opinions influenced the investigations, and said Thursday’s hearing “is just another victory notch in [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s belt and another milestone in our enemies’ campaign to tear America apart.” Mueller had removed Strzok from the Trump investigation when the emails surfaced a year ago.

– Amnesty International is trying to put an end to the detention and torture perpetrated by the United Arab Emirates and Yemeni. Officials from the organization have stated that the actions taken by the UAE should be investigated as war crimes and put to an end. (Washington Post)

– There are 62,000 US military personnel in the EU, with about 35,000 stationed in Germany. The Washington Post reported two weeks ago that the Pentagon was in the process of analyzing the impact of a large-scale withdrawal or transfer of the troops out of that country. Now, in over half a century, a surprising 42% of Germans say they want US troops to leave, compared to 37% who want them to stay. German leaders are among those who want the troops to stay. If US troops leave Germany, politicians would be forced to fill the void by massively boosting the numbers of their own armed forces, a very unpopular idea. (Washington Post)

– After US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang last week, the State Department announced a meeting would take place this Thursday at the Korean Peninsula’s demilitarized zone between North Korean officials and US military. The two sides were to discuss the return of US troop remains from the 1950-1953 war. Unfortunately, when Defense Department and United Nations Command officials arrived on Thursday, they were left in the DMZ’s Joint Security Area, waiting on North Korean officials who never arrived. (Washington Post)

– President Trump gave an exclusive interview where he “said Theresa May had ignored his advice by opting for a soft Brexit strategy” and that because May is not pushing for a hard Brexit a US-UK trade deal would not happen. America’s special relationship with England, NATO, EU, Germany, and South Korea has greatly frayed over the past few months. An incredible self-inflicted wound that will reshape international relations for decades to centuries. British lawmakers are not happy and want to boot Trump out of their country and hope the Queen will not meet him. (The Sun & Guardian)

– Billionaire Elon Musk has announced that he will be finding a solution to Flint, Michigan’s water crisis. Fresh off of his idea to send a kid-sized submarine to Thailand, Musk had been contacted by the mayor of Flint, who requested an audience with the Tesla CEO to talk about the “specific needs” of the city. Musk has promised funding to fix the water in any house in Flint which has water contamination above FDA levels. (Guardian)

– Facebook’s war on fake news is not as effective or well-managed as they would like its users and the public to believe. A recent Q&A with a Facebook team as well as a Facebook released video on the issue revealed that Facebook is only cracking down on the most egregious cases of fake news, allowing most perpetrators to continue spreading conspiracies and false information freely. Facebook does not seem able or ready to address fake news on its platform. (Buzzfeed)

– Shridhar Chillal held the world record for having the world’s longest fingernails and has finally cut them off after sixty-six years of growing them out. (BBC)

– Imagine this: hordes upon hordes of zombies lazing through the streets every day, living in perfect harmony with the rest of civilization. A scary prospect right? Yet, phone zombies roam the streets daily, faces stuck to their screens “living in the moments” through the lenses of their cameras and phones – now which one really sounds scary? (Verge)

– Richard Ratay’s new book “Don’t Make Me Pull Over!: An Informal History of the Family Road Trip” shows the changing trends of family trips through the decades.Weaving in American history with his personal experiences, Ratay paints a portrait of the good old days with classic sunny drives along the oceanside to the current day and age, where kids want to stay home and can see everything from the comfort of their mobile devices. (Atlantic)

– Remember those middle/high school growth spurts? Your body starts doing weird things, pimples pop up and hair starts growing everywhere? Well, humans aren’t the only ones that go through periods of growth spurts – new findings show that dinosaurs probably went through periods of rapid growth as well. Rather than slowly and gradually going from egg to giant, new fossil discoveries show that many of the largest creatures who roamed the Earth most likely went through “growth seasons” where they got real big, real fast. (NYT)

– The world will never learn from Tom Cruise’s mistakes, will they? A mysterious sarcophagus has been found in Egypt and scientists/archaeologists want to pop it open, maybe hoping that the Rock will make a surprise appearance as the Scorpion King again. Verge staffers offer their opinions on what the pros and cons may be to opening this discovery. (Verge)

– PayPal has issued an apology and cleared the debt of a woman who died of breast cancer following a letter demanding payment from the spouse. Grieving and attempting to close credit lines and accounts of his deceased wife, a British man was charged four thousand dollars by PayPal, and after a brief tussle, PayPal backed off on the issue and expressed their condolences and apologies. (NYT)

– Do coincidences hold any meaning? It’s a tough sell for both sides; meaning is not a quantifiable measurement, and though statisticians try as they may, it has proven an impossible task to measure the worth and meaning of a coincidence such as being struck by lightning multiple times or the case study of Carl Jung’s golden scarab. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and meaning is in the mind of the believer. (Aeon)

LAST MORSELS

“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” – George Washington

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