I think it looks a little suspicious that Donald Trump, Jr and The Fabulous Miss Kellyanne Conway have refused Secret Service protection ’round about the same time.

Eeeeewwwwwww.

CNN says Paul Manafort was wiretapped before and after the election with a FISA warrant.

And the New York Times says Manafort has been notified that he will be indicted.

Back to my popcorn ….

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is naming new senior advisers.  The Texas Tribune did a story about it and somehow neglected to mention that one of new hires, John Colyandro, plead guilty to accepting illegal political contributions.

Yeah, this is the same John Colyandro of Tom DeLay fame, who was indicted for accepting illegal corporate donations and for illegally laundering $190,000 in corporate funds through the Republican National State Elections Committee; money that later wound up in the hands of Texas Republican candidates.  He was also indicted on 13 counts of unlawful acceptance of a corporate political contribution.

He plead guilty to the lesser charge of accepting illegal campaign contributions.  He got 2 years probation on two Class A misdemeanors and an $8,000 fine.

The guy responsible for the “new” Rick Perry with Clark Kent glasses and fewer mind-altering drugs, goes by the name of Jeff Miller.  Miller was Perry’s political consultant on Perry Perry for President 2.0.

When Perry was named the head the Energy Department, everybody assumed that Miller would be his Chief of Staff.  That did not happen.

Instead, Miller became a lobbyist making $240,000 in six months by lobbying … you guessed it, Rick Perry at the Energy Department.  Not bad for a guy who lists his place of business as a post office box in Buda, Texas, and a website that isn’t.

So, it appears that the swamp is not drawing.  It’s festering.

Thanks to SGray for the heads up.

Well, come to find out, if you’re gonna loudly discuss confidential legal matters in a Washington DeeCee restaurant, odds of a New York Times lawyer sitting right next to you are about … oh, I dunno, 100%.

It seems that two of Trump’s lawyers, Don McGahn and Ty Cobb, are snarling at each other.

The friction escalated in recent days after Mr. Cobb was overheard by a reporter for The New York Times discussing the dispute during a lunchtime conversation at a popular Washington steakhouse. Mr. Cobb was heard talking about a White House lawyer he deemed “a McGahn spy” and saying Mr. McGahn had “a couple documents locked in a safe” that he seemed to suggest he wanted access to.

Now here’s what makes me smile.  Robert Mueller’s team isn’t fighting. Nor are they in public restaurants whining loudly about each other.  I suspect that’s because they have work to do.

Mr. Mueller is also looking into whether Mr. Trump’s decision to fire James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director initially leading the investigation, constitutes obstruction of justice.

Yeah, in addition to Jared and Junior, there’s still obstruction of justice to investigate.

Thanks to everybody for the heads up.  

Y’all, this is semi-sad news.

Blake Farenthold, south Texas congressvarmint, made and announcement this weekend.

During an interview with a Corpus Christi radio station on Friday, Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) vowed to personally boycott the University of Texas at Austin until the school reinstalls the Confederate statues it took down last month.

Well, that’s only fair – the University of Texas has been boycotting Blake for decades.

Thanks to Charles for the heads up.