title:  Very Suspicious Smoke Is Billowing Out Of Closing Russian Consulate
text: During an uncharacteristically blistering hot day, San Francisco residents noticed a surprising sight on Friday morning. There was smoke spewing out of the Russian Consulate that s scheduled to close and it s something Special Investigator Robert Mueller might want to look into.Temperatures on Friday barely escaped triple digits and it was a Spare the Air day in San Francisco, meaning that residents weren t allowed to burn their fireplaces (as if they d want to). Still, neighbors and the fire department were surprised to see black smoke coming from the chimney at the Russian Consulate.When the fire department arrived at the scene, they were turned away after allegedly being told that there wasn t a problem and that they were burning unidentified items in a fireplace.Mindy Talamadge, a spokeswoman from the San Francisco Fire Department, said the department received a call about the smoke and sent a crew to investigate but determined the smoke was coming from the chimney. They had a fire going in their fireplace,  she said.Talmadge said she did not know what they were burning on a day when normally cool San Francisco temperatures had already climbed to 95 degrees by noon. It was not unintentional. They were burning something in their fireplace,  she said.Source: SF ChronicleRemember, this is the consulate that Donald Trump ordered closed in retribution for Vladimir Putin s kicking diplomats out of Russia. Saturday is the deadline for the consulate to be closed.While the closure of the consulate and two diplomatic annexes might sound like a strong stance against Russia, it s a token measure, at best. Not a single diplomat is being kicked out of the country and the main consulate in Washington, D.C. will remain open.Saturday is the deadline for the oldest Russian consulate in the United States to close its doors. According to Russian propaganda Times, U.S. security services are set to search the facility on Saturday and it certainly appears that there s something in the San Francisco consulate that the Russians don t want Americans to find, or perhaps there s something that Trump doesn t want Americans to find.Update: Smoke was also seen outside the Russian consulate in Washington, D.C.EXCLUSIVE: Here's the fire in back of about to-be-closed DC Russia trade rep building. @janawinter on the scene. pic.twitter.com/oKoKX2OIBv  Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) September 1, 2017 Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images