Day 638

[matt (Matt Kiser)]

Updated 10/19/2018 1:11 PM PDT

1/ The Justice Department charged a Russian national with conspiracy for her role in an "information warfare" campaign designed to interfere with the midterm elections. Elena Khusyaynova managed the finances of an operation the Justice Department identified as "Project Lakhta," which was designed "to sow discord in the U.S. political system" and interfere in the 2016 and 2018 elections. The operation was "a Russian umbrella effort funded by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin and two companies he controls, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, and Concord Catering," the Justice Department said, which pushed arguments and misinformation online about immigration, the Confederate flag, gun control, the NFL national anthem protests, among other things. Prigozhin, known as "Putin's chef," and 12 other Russians were indicted by Robert Mueller in February on charges of interfering in the 2016 presidential election. (Washington Post / Bloomberg / New York Times / Wall Street Journal) / NBC News)

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/10/19/day-638/

[Keaton_James]

@matt

Georgia is using amateur handwriting analysis to reject would-be voters if their signatures looks different from the signature on their voter-registration card. (Slate)

This is outrageous – it’s beyond outrageous. I would be furious if my vote were not counted because some “amateur” rejected my signature. (What does “amateur” even mean in this context? Somebody dragged off the streets?) Come on. When signing with a stylus on a touch screen, it’s almost impossible to render your signature in a consistent manner. This is simply in-your-face vote manipulation.

[anon95374541]

@matt

Saudi Arabia acknowledge that Jamal Khashogg is dead, claiming it was “a fistfight that led to his death” at the consulate in Istanbul .

Who brings a bonesaw to a fistfight, FFS?!

[Keaton_James]

https://en.crimerussia.com/oligarchs/agalarov-s-crocus-group-us-bank-accounts-closed/

This is just breaking – and it’s a really big deal. So far, it’s only been reported in the foreign press, but I thought I’d get a jump on it with this link. I’m sure we’ll see some U.S. media reporting soon.

On Thursday, @matt drew attention to an article in the Guardian documenting a major breakthrough in what we know about the events leading up to the Trump Tower meeting (see Item 5). That article reported that Araz Agalarov set up a shell company in the U.S. shortly before the meeting and a series of suspicious funds transfers soon followed. Agalarov is the Putin-connected oligarch who initiated the Trump Tower meeting and who hosted Trump’s Miss Universe event in Moscow.

This latest development, the freezing of Agalarov’s U.S. accounts, helps validate the Guardian’s earlier reporting. It looks like the feds really are closing in on Agalarov which is bringing them ever closer to Trump.

[macro (M A Croft)]

“Who amongst us hasn’t been involved in a fistfight that escalated into finger removal, homicide, dismemberment and a botched cover up?”

https://www.trendsmap.com/twitter/tweet/1053412139191287808

[SEPTGUY]

The Saudi’s apparently. Jezzz they reslly want us to believe this! Is this the same fight Trump was praising at his rally? Jounalist were involved in both🤷‍♂️

[Larry (Larry St Croix)]

This is about mail in votes. Other disqualifyers, on the outside of the envelope you are supposed to put your date of birth, some people put the current date.