If you like subpoena coladas / and getting caught in Ukraine

emptywheel
@emptywheel
This lays out Trump's game:

1) Russian pressure raises stakes on military aid

2) He promises it but freezes it instead, raising desperation, forcing Zelensky to negotiate with a weak hand

3) After Congress forces the issue he quickly gets concessions

Abby D. Phillip
✔
@abbydphillip
This was a conversation about drone policy:

“Kirstjen, you didn’t hear me the first time, honey,” Mr. Trump said, according to two people familiar with the conversation. “Shoot ’em down. Sweetheart, just shoot ’em out of the sky, O.K.?”https://nyti.ms/2ofZlR0

ROME–When Attorney General William Barr showed up at the U.S. embassy’s Palazzo Margherita on Rome’s tony Via Veneto last week, he had two primary requests. He needed a conference room to meet high level Italian security agents where he could be sure no one was listening in. And he needed an extra chair for U.S. Attorney John Durham of Connecticut who would be sitting at his right hand side.

Barr was in Rome on an under-the-radar mission that was only planned a few days in advance. An official with the embassy confirmed to The Daily Beast that they had to scramble to accommodate Barr’s sudden arrival. He had been in Italy before, but not with such a clear motive. Barr and Durham are looking into the events that led to Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and suddenly all roads were leading to Rome.

The Daily Beast has learned that Barr and Durham were especially interested in what the Italian secret service knew about Joseph Mifsud, the erstwhile professor from Malta who had allegedly promised then candidate Donald Trump’s campaign aide George Papadopoulos he could deliver Russian “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. The Italian Justice Ministry public records show that Mifsud had applied for police protection in Italy after disappearing from Link University where he worked and, in doing so, had given a taped deposition to explain just why people might want to harm him.

A source in the Italian Ministry of Justice, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Daily Beast that Barr and Durham were played the tape. A second source within the Italian government also confirmed to The Daily Beast that Barr and Durham were shown other evidence the Italians had on Mifsud.

blmohr
@blmohr
"Vatican police raided the offices of the Holy See’s Secretariat of State and its Financial Information Authority on Tuesday and took away docs and electronic devices as part of an investigation of suspected financial irregularities."https://reut.rs/2mK9zbV

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo’s Travel to Italy, The Holy See, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Greece - United States Department of State

Angry Staffer
@AngrierWHStaff
Rudy just told Hannity he had tapes and audio recordings

Josh Lederman
✔
@JoshNBCNews
Just in: Sebastian Gorka is traveling with @SecPompeo to Europe, @Abs_NBC reports. He was seen getting into a State Department van headed to Joint Base Andrews for departure