Greg Olear's Blog, page 2

Some of us did complain:

Some of us did complain:

Obama the Terrible

Bone Saws & Bail Outs: A Timeline

Overview
The 35-year-old Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) became heir apparent in 2016. Although he began his regime with a series of modest if widely-publicized reforms, these were designed to disguise his true despotic aims.

Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist who was critical of MbS, who portrayed him as the tyrant he is at heart. For this, MbS had Khashoggi brutally murdered.

Jared Kushner is chummy with MbS. Donald Trump is a staunch supporter. Both men have ulterior motives...

How Complicit Is the U.S. Government in Khashoggi’s Murder?

A year ago this month, Jared Kushner took an unannounced trip to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, to pay a visit to his friend Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, aka MbS. The two men had “forged a bond” since spending time together in Washington the previous March, speaking frequently on the telephone.

And why not? Aside from obvious differences—one was an Orthodox Jew, the other lived in a country where being an Orthodox Jew was illegal—they had much in common. They w...

Two Princes: Jared Kushner and Mohammed bin Salman

A year ago this month, Jared Kushner took an unannounced trip to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, to pay a visit to his friend Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, aka MbS. The two men had “forged a bond” since spending time together in Washington the previous March, speaking frequently on the telephone.

And why not? Aside from obvious differences—one was an Orthodox Jew, the other lived in a country where being an Orthodox Jew was illegal—they had much in common. They w...

Two Princes: Kushner, Khashoggi, and the Kingdom’s MbS

Ivanka is flanked by Kushner and MbS. Photo from The Intercept.

A year ago this month, Jared Kushner took an unannounced trip to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, to pay a visit to his friend the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, aka “MbS.” The two men had “forged a bond” since spending time together in Washington the previous March, speaking frequently on the telephone.

And why not? Aside from obvious differences — one was an Orthodox Jew, the other lived in a country...

Money Line Parlay: How Did the Kavanaughs Afford Their $1,225,000 Home?

On 27 February 2006, at the height of the real estate bubble, Brett and Ashley Kavanaugh purchased a home in the village of Chevy Chase, Maryland, a tony suburb of Washington. The house, a handsome four-bedroom built in 1922, had a purchase price of $1,225,000 — half a million dollars more than the sellers had paid just six years earlier. As Steve Reilly has revealed, the initial mortgage on the property was for $980,000:

Montgomery County Circuit Court Land Records from 2006. Image courtesy S...

Supreme Discrepancies: Kavanaugh’s Financial Disclosure Reports Conflict With His Senate Testimony

Much has been written about Brett Kavanaugh’s high school days, when the incoming Supreme Court Justice was, in his own words, an “obnoxious drunk.” The allegation of his 1982 sexual assault captivated and polarized the nation, turning his confirmation hearing into, as Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) put it, “the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics.”

What should be of greater concern to Graham — and his colleagues in the Senate who declared that proof of Kavanaugh’s perj...

The REAL Devil’s Triangle: Moscow, the Alt-Right, and GOP Congressional Staffers

Here’s a story we’ve seen before: “Alt-Right” figures announce an event. A rally, let’s say; perhaps a protest for “free speech.” The location is at some “liberal” university campus. Social media lights up. The event is all over Facebook, all over Twitter, all over Gab (the goose-steppers’ version of Twitter). The mainstream media becomes aware of the event, reporting on it droolingly. Based on the lurid coverage, counter-protests are planned. Stories are written about the titillating potenti...

A Sad Song Made Better: My 9/11 Account

ASTORIA, N.Y.-

We moved on the first of September. Left our 400-square-foot fifth-floor walk-up on East 7th Street in Manhattan’s East Village — an apartment that cost a staggering $1,800 a month — for a bigger, cheaper, cleaner, safer one-bedroom in Astoria, the part of Queens comprising the westernmost extremity of Long Island, directly across the East River from Yorkville.

Astoria is known for its heavy Greek population. There are more Greeks in Astoria than any other city in the world excep...

When Will the Trump Presidency End? Here Are the Signs to Look For.

The Sixth Seal is broken.

I’ve been writing tirelessly about Trump/Russia for the last 18 months. I am the go-to guy on the subject for my friends and family. Of my 26,000 Twitter followers, 25,950 follow me because of Trump/Russia. I even wrote a book about Trump/Russia, called Dirty Rubles.

The question I’m most often asked is: When will this end? What is the time-frame? How much longer can this possibly go on? Because at some point, Trump’s crimes will catch up to him, and he’ll have to step...