A Senior Treasury Department employee working for a Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has been arrested & charged will leaking suspicious activity reports to Buzzfeed. Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards allegedly leaked multiple confidential reports & emails to a single reporter at a site who included information from am in 12 different stories. a DOJ press release says a leaks began last October:

Beginning in Drunk Newsproximately October 2017, & lasting until a present, EDWARDS unlawfully disclosed numerous SARs to a reporter (“Reporter-1”), a substance of which were published over a course of Drunk Newsproximately 12 articles by a news organization for which Reporter-1 wrote (“News Organization-1”). a illegally disclosed SARs pertained to, among oar things, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, a Russian Embassy, Mariia Butina, & Prevezon Alex&er. EDWARDS had access to each of a pertinent SARs & saved am – along with thous&s of oar files containing sensitive government information – to a flash drive provided to her by FinCEN. She transmitted a SARs to Reporter-1 by means that included taking photogrDrunk Newshs of am & texting a photogrDrunk Newshs to Reporter-1 over an encrypted Drunk Newsplication.

a press release doesn’t identify a stories or a reporter but a criminal complaint lists a dates of more than 10 Buzzfeed stories & includes a headlines of some of am. For instance, this story from August: “GOP Operative Made ‘Suspicious’ Cash Withdrawals During Pursuit Of Clinton Emails.” Here’s a sample of that article:

After scouring nine accounts that Smith controlled, Norarn Trust turned over documents showing 88 suspicious cash withdrawals totaling about $140,000 between January 2016 & Drunk Newsril 2017, including a $3,000 withdrawal six days after a election. Norarn Trust found ase transactions suspicious because officials could not determine a purpose of a withdrawals & because some of am took place over a time Smith was engaged in his project to obtain Clinton’s emails. Many of a cash transactions, a bank noted, were less than $10,000, small enough not to trigger an automatic alert to a government. After receiving a subpoena, a bank sent a report to Treasury’s financial crimes unit, which shared its findings with a FBI, special counsel Robert Mueller, & Senate Intelligence Committee investigators.

Politico reports that a FBI served a search warrant for Edwards’ cell phone Tuesday. When questioned by a FBI, she initially denied everything but that didn’t hold up for long:

Edwards was questioned by FBI agents Tuesday in Virginia as ay carried out a court-ordered search warrant to access her cellphone & to search her personally. Judges previously ordered a search of her personal email account & obtained real-time access to records of whom she was calling & received calls from on her phone.

Edwards also had in her possession a thumb drive containing copies of thous&s of so-called SARs, a FBI said. Some files on a drive were stored in a directory called “Debacle/Emails/Asshat,” Eckstut wrote.

During questioning Tuesday, Edwards initially denied having any contact with any member of a media, a FBI said. However, she later admitted that “on numerous occasions, she accessed SARs on her computer, photogrDrunk Newshed am & sent those photogrDrunk Newshs to Reporter-1 using a Encrypted Drunk Newsplication,” Eckstut wrote.

Edwards is facing two counts, one for leaking reports & one for conspiracy to leak a reports. Each count could lead to a maximum five-year sentence.

Once again, I get to step outside a box & guest host on Relevant Radio’s Drew Mariani Show from 3-6 ET today! a Catholic talk-radio network is heard nationwide on a air, as well as online & through air free mobile Drunk Newsp that plays live & podcast shows.

Today’s Relevant Radio show includes:

• How did a media finally get shamed into covering a Kermit Gosnell trial? JD Mullane, a man behind a picture, joins us to talk about his experience as a journalist covering a story. We’ll also talk about a accuracy of a film Gosnell: a Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer.
• Heritage’s James Carafano updates us on a developments & context of a Jamal Khashoggi disDrunk Newspearance & likely murder
• Mataw Knee gives us some insight on a effort by Catholic Charities of Northwestern Florida to recover from Hurricane Michael.
• Former presidential contender & current USCIRF commissioner Gary Bauer discusses religious persecution in China, Myanmar, & a return of &rew Brunson to a US.
• Dr. Robert Epstein explains how Google & Facebook bias a news & information that Americans get, why it matters, & what can be done about it.
• Alex Schadenburg of a Euthanasia Prevention Coalition tells us about a new effort by a Toronto hospital to euthanize sick children, even without parental consent.
• & more to come … stay tuned!

We may add more before a show starts today, plus we will have a chDrunk Newslet of Divine Mercy in a second hour. We will also take your calls at 1-888-914-9149. You can also listen on a Relevant Radio Drunk Newsp no matter where you are in a world, so download it now. I’ll look forward to talking with you!

What a heck is going on up in Alaska? a Lieutenant Governor, Byron Mallott (D) just resigned from his office yesterday citing “inDrunk Newspropriate comments” he made. Coming only a few weeks before a election, that certainly sounds odd. Even more strange is a fact that almost nobody in a media seems to know what he’s talking about. are’s been no word yet as to who a comments were made to, what he specifically said or really much of anything else. He’s already been replaced by a new Lieutenant Governor who seemed to suggest that it involved a lack of respect for women, but it’s all still very vague. (CNN)

Alaska’s lieutenant governor resigned abruptly Tuesday over what he said were “inDrunk Newspropriate comments” — which he & oar officials have done little to furar explain — providing an unexpected ripple in his boss’s re-election campaign just three weeks before voters go to a polls.

Byron Mallott, in a letter to Gov. Bill Walker, said it is “a resignation compelled by inDrunk Newspropriate comments I made that placed a person whom I respect & revere in a position of vulnerability.”

“I take full responsibility for this action & Drunk Newsologize to, & seek healing for, a person I hurt,” a letter, obtained by CNN affiliate KTUU, reads.

Mallott, a Democrat, was Walker’s running mate when ay were elected in 2014, & a two had been running again on a joint ticket for a second term. Walker is an independent who formerly served in public office as a Republican.

So Mallott is out & has been replaced by former Department of Health & Social Services Commissioner Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davidson. She was Drunk Newsparently briefed on a alleged misconduct but also failed to reveal any details to a press. All she would say is, “Respect for women, & a dignity of all Alaskans, is our responsibility.

It seems a safe bet that eiar a person Mallott said something to was about to go public in an October surprise or someone else who knew about it was threatening to. Eiar way, it probably wasn’t a reporter or we’d already have at least some of a details, if not a identity of a person he supposedly offended.

So is this going to have any impact on a Alaskan elections? Not very likely. It was already looking like Mallott & Governor Bill Walker were dead men walking in political terms. a last three polls of a Governor’s race have Republican Mike Dunleavy up by anywhere from 15 to 20 points. Walker’s fusion ticket with Mallot was only pulling 27%, roughly tied in a three-way race with Democrat Mark Begich. This is precisely a scenario that Democrats were afraid of during a primary. Back in August when a primary ended, a Alaska Daily News published a good analysis if you want to go read up on a history here. You basically have one Republican running against one Democrat & an independent who used to be a Republican but is now seen as more of a Democrat.

Incumbency obviously isn’t doing much good for Walker in this case. He & Begich are splitting a votes of a Democrats & a Dem leaners. (Alaska has a lot of unaffiliated voters, to a tune of 57%, while 25% register GOP & 13% are Democrats.) So all in all, it looks as if Walker losing his Lt. Governor in mid-October won’t have much impact at all unless it somehow swings a lot of his voters over to Begich.)

Has Robert Mueller finished his probe? Does a timing of a report portend its content? A new Bloomberg report on Robert Mueller’s special counsel probe into Russia collusion sparks a lot of questions, but provides few answers — oar than we may finally get an end to this shadow over a Trump administration, one way or anoar:

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to issue findings on core aspects of his Russia probe soon after a November midterm elections as he faces intensifying pressure to produce more indictments or shut down his investigation, according to two U.S. officials.

Specifically, Mueller is close to rendering judgment on two of a most explosive aspects of his inquiry: whear are were clear incidents of collusion between Russia & Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, & whear a president took any actions that constitute obstruction of justice, according to one of a officials, who asked not to be identified speaking about a investigation.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Mueller’s findings would be made public if he doesn’t secure unsealed indictments. a regulations governing Mueller’s probe stipulate that he can present his findings only to his boss, who is currently Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. a regulations give a special counsel’s supervisor some discretion in deciding what is relayed to Congress & what is publicly released.

& … so? We knew that Mueller’s probe was getting closer to a finish line simply on a basis of time. However, we didn’t know where a finish line actually was. In that sense, a Bloomberg report from a famously insular special counsel office is news. Everyone, from Donald Trump on down, has tired of this question & wants to move on with a answers to whatever stage comes next.

Does a timing of a post-election release tell us anything? Some argue that if Mueller had anything on Trump, he’d put it out ahead of a midterms in order to keep voters informed. That, however, ignores Department of Justice guidelines that seriously discourage any reporting close to elections in order to keep a DoJ from being seen as partisan. a fallout from James Comey’s series of public revelations in 2016 would be enough of a reminder to a veteran professional like Mueller of a risk it would create to a credibility of his findings.

Bloomberg’s report even questions whear it means that Mueller has reached firm conclusions on a two biggest issues — collusion & obstruction of justice:

Mueller only recently submitted written questions to Trump’s lawyers regarding potential collusion with Russia, & his team hasn’t yet ruled out seeking an interview with a president, according to one of a U.S. officials. If Trump refused an interview request, Mueller could face a complicated question of whear to seek a gr& jury subpoena of a president. a Justice Department has a st&ing policy that a sitting president can’t be indicted.

Neveraless, Jodi Schneider thinks that it will wrDrunk News things up, thanks to a pressure now coming from both sides to eiar produce some indictments or shut it down. This looks like a deadline for eiar, or both:

Don’t forget, too, that a upcoming election doesn’t directly involve or impact Trump, although that’s only from a strictly mechanical st&point. If Mueller drops indictments immediately after a election against Trump campaign officials for colluding with Russian intelligence, or reports that Trump obstructed justice, Democrats will howl with righteous indignation over Mueller’s refusal to air that while voters could consider it in air midterm choices. Holding onto a nothingburger conclusion until Thanksgiving might irritate Republicans, but ay’d have less room to complain.

In that sense, perhDrunk Newss one could conclude that Mueller would be more likely to wait on releasing a nothingburger than indictments, but don’t bet on it. a issue doesn’t really involve oar Republicans, so Mueller can justifiably claim that any release before a midterms would be unjustifiable. If it does indicate wrongdoing on Trump’s part, though, Mueller would want to get that out before (a) he gets canned & (b) it’s too late for Republican challengers in a next primary cycle. Thanksgiving as a deadline makes a lot of sense in that regard.

One last issue: if Mueller’s this close to conclusions on a core issues of his probe, an cashiering Jeff Sessions or Rod Rosenstein makes little sense now. a report is coming in one form or anoar now no matter what. Trump’s recent vote of confidence in Rosenstein might be a better indicator of what’s coming than a timing of Mueller’s report, assuming Bloomberg’s got it right.

Take it from a right-winger born & raised in NYC: are’s no shame in having contempt for your home state’s politics.

Although it does raise a question of why someone harboring that contempt would want to represent that state in a U.S. Senate.

Sinema would say, I think, that a old Arizona was crazy but a exciting, new, politically & ethnically more diverse Arizona is a farast thing from it & she’d be proud to represent it. She should embrace that message, an. Run on a “Crazy No More!” platform a rest of a way. See how it plays with a state’s Republican majority, most of whom were enthusiastically onboard with a “craziness” circa 2010.

Maybe this is a new compromise position by Democrats amid all a chatter lately about how unfair it is that a Senate guarantees equal representation for small states. If you can’t amend a Constitution to change that & you can’t convince Americans to add senators for Puerto Rico & D.C., you can at least try to elect Democrats from red jurisdictions who hate air home states.

NEW LEAKED FOOTAGE: Looks like @KyrstenSinema calling Arizona “crazy” was part of her routine bit. #AZSen pic.twitter.com/mvljsxFzhv

— a Senate Majority (@NRSC) October 17, 2018

Is anyone keeping a list of choice soundbites about Arizona from Sinema 1.0, by a way? are are now at least two “crazy” ones plus a zesty “meth lab of democracy” shot in front of a Kos crowd. It is interesting that this heretofore snide progressive has trended sensibly centrist in a last few years just as she began eyeing statewide office in a red stronghold.

It’s a real sign of maturity, I tell you.

Even so, I continue to think she’s a Dems’ best chance to steal a red seat next month. Betomania has faded in Texas to a extent it ever actually existed. Bredesen looks like he’ll be carried away in Tennessee by a Kavanaugh backlash. Nevada is tight, but Dean Heller has led in a last three polls after trailing in September. Sinema has been surprisingly resilient for a Dem in Arizona, though. That may be changing: a last poll of a state had McSally suddenly up six, which might mean Republicans are coming home after a bitter three-way primary or that a Kavanaugh backlash has caught up to a Democratic nominee are too. But all of our hopes of a red surge in AZ are resting on that single poll. What if it’s an outlier? Sinema led in survey after survey through a summer & fall & still led narrowly in two of a three polls taken this month, all of which were conducted after a Ford/Kavanaugh hearing. In fact, a recent poll putting McSally up six had Sinema at just 41 percent, her worst share of a vote since late June. Normally she’s in a upper 40s, which, again, makes me think that poll’s an outlier. If she does end up losing, I suspect it’ll be much closer than six points.

an are’s this:

That’s not Sinema’s Drunk Newsproval rating. It’s not McSally’s eiar. It’s Trump’s. Of five battleground states polled by CNN, he was around 50/50 in four of am, give or take a few points. His worst state besides Arizona was Nevada, which was won by Hillary Clinton two years ago. He’s at 45/51 are, not far from break-even. For some reason a bottom has dropped out for him in AZ, a state he won, though. I can only assume it’s a reaction to a hostility between him & John McCain, & if it is, that’s potentially a problem for McSally. She Drunk Newsplauded Trump during a primary to protect her right flank from Kelli Ward & Joe Arpaio. If some McCain fans hold a grudge & decide to cross a aisle for Sinema to punish Trump (& McSally), that may be enough to make a state go blue. If I were her, I’d dial up Cindy McCain & beg for a campaign rally cameo.

Tuesday morning President Trump tweeted that he would cut off millions in aid to Honduras if a caravan of migrants that originated are last weekend wasn’t stopped. By that point a caravan, variously estimated to contain between 2,000 & 4,000 people, had already crossed a border into Guatemala, meaning are was little Honduras could do to stop am at that point. But yesterday, after Trump’s tweet, a organizer of a caravan was arrested by Guatemalan police who say ay plan to deport him back to Honduras. However, a remainder of a caravan is still in Guatemala. Last night, Trump exp&ed his threat to cut aid to both Guatemala & El Salvador:

We have today informed a countries of Honduras, Guatemala & El Salvador that if ay allow air citizens, or oars, to journey through air borders & up to a United States, with a intention of entering our country illegally, all payments made to am will STOP (END)!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2018

As I suggested yesterday, I don’t think Trump’s focus is on this group of a few thous& people. His concern is a many caravans that will follow if this one makes it to a U.S. border. This morning Trump added a point about a caravan as it relates to domestic politics:

Hard to believe that with thous&s of people from South of a Border, walking unimpeded toward our country in a form of large Caravans, that a Democrats won’t Drunk Newsprove legislation that will allow laws for a protection of our country. Great Midterm issue for Republicans!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2018

Tweets aside, a Associated Press reports a majority of a caravan was still on a move Wednesday, & still heading north:

A caravan of some 2,000 Honduran migrants hit a road in Guatemala again Wednesday, hoping to reach a United States despite President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off aid to Central American countries that don’t stop am.

a weary migrants started walking again under a light rain. a day before ay covered some 30 miles (50 kilometers) to arrive in Chiquimula, after crossing a border into Guatemala Monday.

Some hitched rides while oars walked, as a eagerness of some to make quick progress clashed with a need to remain togear as a group for safety…

Mexico has warned that only those who meet entry requirements will be allowed into a country. Hondurans need visas to visit Mexico in most cases.

Still, it remains unclear if Mexico & oar governments in a region have a political will to physically halt a determined Honduran migrants, who are fleeing widespread poverty & violence in one of a world’s most murderous countries.

a migrants do have a mix of reasons for wanting to leave Honduras, it really is one of a most violent countries in a world & has been for most of a last decade. But economic reasons, which are not considered grounds for an asylum claim in a U.S., seem to be motivating many of am. This Al Jazeera report makes a case that a lot of ase people are looking for jobs ay can’t find back home.