I Love You For Sentimental Treasons (The Mueller Investigation Part 8)

Link to previous thread:

That title made me laugh. My mother lives that song.

We will save Treason of the Witch for Ivanka's indictment week.

As the OP of the Treachery and Bitchery thread, I hereby temporarily disavow my own thread title and endorse this one for the greater good and/or solidaristic purposes.

Because this title is way better than that one.

I'm feeling that we're going to get an indictment tomorrow. Just a feeling...

R6 should we place bets on who it will be?

OK. What's this about Rod Rosenstein going to Capitol Hill to meet with Paul Ryan this afternoon? WTF? Does anyone think Rosenstein was summoned or that he went to talk to Ryan about Nunes and the other House members who are acting like assholes? It's time Ryan did his job and got his members under control.

Was anybody else going around all last week singing "it's beginning to look a lot like treason..." or was it just me?

Doesn't have anything to do with the Russia probe, but has every thing to do with illustrating what a despicable, vile asshole Trump is. Read the paragraph midway down about his reaction to scalp reduction surgery.

One more reason to love Cheetolini. . .

R7, who is your dream indictment?

R9, I did. My partner sang The 12 days of Treason to entertain me on our long car ride....love that man.

My dream indictment is Steven Miller. I hate his smugness.

Ivanka is one of my mine.

Jared and Ivanka on the same day. Cheetolini can babysit the grandkids.

Today Rosenstein requested a meeting with CIA Director Christopher Wray and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Today was the deadline the Devin Nunes had given the FBI and DOJ to turn over transcripts from important interviews done by Mueller. No one really knows what was discussed but my bet is that Rosenstein told Ryan that Nunes is under investigation and Ryan needs to remove him from the House Intelligence Committee.

I think we'll be seeing a Devine Nunes indictment soon.

I have a feeling before all is said and done, someone is gonna get murdered in the Trump circle.

R16: Nunes said they came to an "agreement" about everything he requested.

And then, R18, they'll blame Hillary for it.

r19....yeah, they came to an agreement....RR and CW told Nunes hes under investigation and to fuck off....and Nunes said ok......they needed PR as a witness.

Nunes lies constantly and consistently misrepresents every single thing he's involved with. So I think he is putting a good spin on this. Of course it is possible that Rosenstein visited with Ryan because Nunes conduct has been inappropriate and hostile and unbecoming of a member of Congress especially the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee which is a very sensitive job. Maybe he was making unreasonable demands and Rosenstein had to tell Ryan why the FBI was not complying with Nunes' requests. Nunes has top secret security clearances. Maybe Rosentstein told Ryan that Nunes was compromised and he should be removed from the chairmanship because he is a huge risk.

[quote]Maybe Rosentstein told Ryan that Nunes was compromised and he should be removed from the chairmanship because he is a huge risk.

Would Ryan care or do anything about it? I doubt it. When do we find out that Ryan is compromised. Or rather, when do we get verification.

For all we know, that what todays meeting was really about......putting congress on notice.

Is it typical that we, the public, would know about this meeting? What I'm asking is, SURELY RR and CW could have been discreet. I believe this is a message for the public, no? Perhaps, we are taking these fucjers on now?? Or am I crazy? This is partially a PR move for FBI/DOJ...

Please God, let there be an indictment today

is there going to be some sort of official announcement about the Russian coup? Clearly we are doing their bidding now.

This thread is not being used?

I believe this is the one. But there are so many others now, especially with this book coming out.

This thread is for discussion of Mueller and the Treasonous Regime. The other threads are for the distractions.

From Michael Wolff's book, courtesy of today's Hollywood Reporter:

No one [in the White House] expected [Trump] to survive Mueller. Whatever the substance of the Russia "collusion," Trump, in the estimation of his senior staff, did not have the discipline to navigate a tough investigation, nor the credibility to attract the caliber of lawyers he would need to help him. (At least nine major law firms had turned down an invitation to represent the president.)

R25 Congressional staffers leak like a sieve. That's the only way we have been able to discover any news about what has gone on in the closed door sessions of the committee interviews with various "witnesses." because Meuller's team never leaks.

Personally I think Nunes got his ass kicked by the FBI & RR, and Ryan got a warning. Because today Nunes' buddies Jordan and some other guy are having a tantrum. It's kind of funny. They can talk all they want about shutting things down and firing people, but I would not fuck with the FBI.

And as pundits repeatedly point out on these TV news show panels, this isn't only the FBI doing the investigating, this is the FBI Counter Intelligence division investigating, and these are matters of grave national security. If these fuckers, Ryan included think this is all about political games and taking money for their super pacs they are seriously delusional.

Just wait. after a reasonable interval, Nunes will make an announcement that makes it look like it was his idea to leave the Intel committee . He's probably negotiating his exit as we speak. This is a perfect time for it. The new session of Congress is about to start and there are committee assignments to be given out.

OK, people. How many of you think someone dies before all this is over? I'm betting Manafort has a Russian "accident." He is far too dangerous for Putin to let him live.

Nunes, Gowdy and Jordan, what a trio of patriots.

Agreed, r33.

I'm surprised someone hasn't died before now.

I hope you're right about Nunes, r32. He's a traitor and I'd love to see him get frog marched out of Congress along with that screeching fool, Jordan.

I would love to see Gowdy go down too.

Bigly

So what fresh horrors will today bring? I'd say we're over due for a win. We keep learning more and more information, we keep watching as developments unfold, and yet nothing HAPPENS. I 'd love an indictment or a resignation. Do these small, silly people realize that the entire world intelligence community is after them?

[quote]Do these small, silly people realize that the entire world intelligence community is after them?

They seem perfectly aware... they just don't seem to care.

Trump appointed Rudy Giullianni's (sp?) law partner to the NY Attorney Prosecutor position he & Sessions fired Preet Bahraha (again spelling?) from.

Most of us have taken some comfort in the fact that Trump can't pardon people from state level (charges) crimes.

But if he is filling mass vacancies of prosecutors AND judges, which he is, with people "loyal" to him, then this becomes another challenge to Mueller.

Rachel Maddow brought up something I've been wondering for the last few days.

Is there anything that prevents the guys from Fusion GPS from telling the public, on TRMS for example, what they told the House Intelligence Committee?

The question wasn't answered on Maddow because they got sidetracked, her show was really good last night.

I remember Grassley saying the Fusion GPS had to review the transcript before it could be released so apparently they have a copy. I think Fusion GPS should just do a big FU to Grassley and release it. It wasn't classified, it was simply behind closed doors.

Then why was Fusion GPS in the OP Ed urging Congress to release it?

Grassley wants them to come back in and ask for its release on the record.....hes just being an asshole because he knows that the public will have a field day with the information thats in it. He even stated on tape at a townhall that as soon as it was ready he would release it. Hes flat out obstructing justice right now, in real time.....and nobody is saying a god damn word.

More info on trump scalp horror.

The story (can’t remember if it’s in this thread or another) about Trump's scalp reduction and how Ivana blamed his raping her on the pain it caused him is so gruesome, I could hardly stand it.

^^It sounds awful. No wonder he is such a dick

Is jackass Nunes getting what he wants from the Justice department.?

Looks like no indictment, maybe next week.

r48....Do you think that theyre going to give you a notice of whats going on ? This isnt a television show. You wont know until suddenly they show up in court....unless someone leaks they are turning themselves in. Thats why there are reporters camped out at the courthouse.

I hope everyone sees that tweet from Katy Tur...everyone should be able to see what kind of scum he is...just from that one reveal.

^^^^^^and the only reason we found out about Manafort, etc before hand is someone from the press happened to notice lawyers from Muellers team filing papers that Friday at the courthouse.....Flynn we found out that morning. ^^^^^^^^

R42 Because officially it should be released by congress and not directly by Fusion GPS but if Fusion GPS has a copy then I say they should release it themselves if Grassley continues to block it.

To needle the Seth Abramson Hater Troll:

Ooh, this is going to be one of those great long trains by Seth!!!!!

#TeamSethAbramson

Wow. That Seth Abrahamson train referenced by R54 is great. It involves Sessions, but more importantly he believes that Mueller will refer an impeachable offense against Trump to Rosenstein (to be sent to the House). I'd cut and paste the segments, but I don't want to do that if someone else is already working on it.

Newt Gingrich was on saying that Steve Bannon has an over exaggerated idea of his own importance! " LOLOLOLOLOL!

Alex Jones has lost what was left of his mind. He was shouting and incoherently angry at Bannon. These people a re crazy. Seriously. I want the mainstream media to cover this shit so that regular people understand who the new GOP is.

I hate each and every one of them. I hope they eat each other in a frenzy of cannibalism.

Go ahead, R55. Paste it.

Here goes (from R54's link):

1/ BREAKING: Trump Ordered White House Counsel to Keep Sessions From Recusing Himself, Said Sessions Was Obligated to Protect Him From the Russia Probe

2/ That a White House lawyer lied to the president to keep him from firing Jim Comey confirms that legal experts in his employ, along with everyone else, considered it necessary to save the country from the president rather than permitting him to govern in his current condition.

3/ The fact that Sessions' team secretly queried GOP members of Congress for damaging info on Comey—to use as cover for firing him over Russia—confirms, yet again, that Sessions was/is one of Mueller's primary targets for indictment alongside Manafort, Flynn, Kushner, and Don Jr.

4/ This NYT story makes clear that Sessions, with the assistance of at least one aide—and was it Gordon or Dearborn, both implicated in the Russia probe?—was trying to cover up what he knew as an attorney (much like Corallo knew) was a course of conduct constituting Obstruction.

5/ I did a long thread on "consciousness of guilt" recently, and Jeff Sessions ordering aides to find pretextual reasons to fire Comey, so that it wouldn't be obvious the firing was over the Flynn case—which Trump knew from McGahn was *valid*—is definitely consciousness of guilt.

6/ As for Mueller needing proof the president instructed someone to lie for an Obstruction case, (a) no, you don't, and (b) remember that a Flynn confidant told ABC that Flynn says Trump ordered him to negotiate with Russia—then tried to end the probe that would reveal that fact.

7/ So even if Trump didn't tell Flynn to lie to the FBI, his intent was that the truth of what occurred not be known to the FBI or public—that's why he didn't fire Flynn for 3 weeks, immediately threatened to rehire him, tried to end his prosecution, then told him to stay strong.

8/ Remember too that the period during which Trump was trying to avoid firing Flynn, and then trying to get Comey to drop Flynn's case, was also the period when the "blank check" job offer Trump gave George Papadopoulos was suddenly taken away. Trump knew justice was closing in.

9/ I've said this over and over, as have many other attorneys (Laurence Tribe being a prominent example): the Obstruction of Justice case against Trump is extremely strong even if Mueller *only* has the evidence that's been made public—but as we learned today, he has *much* more.

10/ So this is a good time to repeat what I've said on the subject of a future Special Counsel referral to the DOJ: Bob Mueller *will* refer at *least* one impeachable offense to Rod Rosenstein at DOJ, because he *will* refer Obstruction of Justice (i.e., recommend that charge).

PS/ Per NYT, the effort to fire Comey began the moment Comey refused to permanently exonerate Trump on TV. While a POTUS doesn't need grounds to fire an FBI Director, firing him because he won't swear never to charge you—when an investigation involving you is pending—is a crime.

Paul Ryan is such a pathetic sleaze worm. And Nunes is among the worst players in the entire Rethug garbage pile. But Christopher Wray seems more decent than I would have expected.

Thank you r59. WW for you.

You are all very welcome.

These fools are in a LOT of trouble. They've committed so many crimes it is going to take years to prosecute them all.

So as I thought, it wouldn't matter what they said to Ryan, Ryan wouldn't and wont do shit. Ever.

[quote] During the meeting, however, it became clear that Ryan wasn't moved and the officials wouldn't have his support if they proceeded to resist Nunes' remaining highly classified requests, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting. Sources also told CNN that the Justice Department and the FBI also had learned recently that the White House wasn't going to assert executive privilege or otherwise intervene to try to stop Nunes.

Bunch of criminals the whole lot of them. It is sickening how our government has been taken over by these horrible, horrid, despicable, dreadful people.

My favorite excerpt from Wolff's book

That’s not real, r65. It’s a parody piece.

What's the "thing" between Ryan behind Nunes? This is more than dudebros.

This has been a concern, that false reports like the Gorilla Channel will confound many and bring real incidents re Trump's dementia and crookedness into question.

Miss Lindsey now has rosier cheeks, a wider smile, a more briskly gait, very lively eyes, and a new glow that seems to sparkle.

She's getting some, isn't she?

This one of today's Ten Alarm Fires, and stinks to me for more than the obvious reasons. I think this is a set up to get Sessions out so that Trump can replace him with an AG who is NOT recused from the Russia probe and will fire Mueller...

Apparently Rinse took notes and Mueller has them...

R64 that all but confirms Ryan is neck deep in this as well. Hope that motherfucker is brought down very soon!

Ryan seemed to want to placate Nunes. That's concerning. It looks from that picture of the two of them, that Nunes is like some crazy conspiracy nut and Ryan is exhausted just listening to him ramble. But Ryan has proven himself to be a craven piece of shit. He has no backbone. I keep hoping this story is a plant. That maybe someone from Ryan's office leaked this as part of a strategy to make it appear as if Nunes "won" but in fact Nunes will soon be gone. That's my slender hope.

He should remove Nunes from chair of Intel. Nunes is completely wrapped up in Trumpland. Every single thing he learns he runs straight to the WH with it, and there's no doubt in my mind he has violated his top secret security clearances.

I cannot wait for the FBI to sting his ass. And they will. He is definitely on their to do list. You watch. Even if it's not about Russia they are going to get him for something. I've been saying it for a long time. You do not fuck with the FBI.

The fact that this little shit thinks he can make demands and insist, etc. on them actually showing him investigative materials that they never show to anyone during an investigation? They really don't like that. They have their own way of doing things. They are generally all smarter than him and they will find a way to make sure Devin Nunes pays.

The problem with Sessions is if he gets fired, Trump will have to find a replacement. My guess is that it could very well be someone from Congress. Maybe Trey Gowdy or Jordan if he's a lawyer, or a senator yet to be named. He will need Senate approval of his pick. If he goes outside the Congress to find someone, he risks having the Senate drag their feet on approving a new AG.

It's my belief that if McConnell is presented with the same information as Ryan has, McConnell will not act the way Ryan acts...doing nothing. Only a prime ass fool will be blinded to the fact that serious laws have been broken and there is a criminality involved. No man is above the law. The Senate seems to have that figured out.

I don't know if Sessions can rely on support from McConnell, Graham, Grassley, etc. Last time Trump tried to fire him, the Senate leadership was Sessions' firewall. They stopped it. But if it looks like Sessions really did break the law, he may find himself twisting in the wind with his former senate colleagues support eroded.

The problem is going to be if becomes clear from publicly available information that Sessions aided in the obstruction of justice then he will have to go. But, if it is clear that Sessions was involved then it has to be clear that Trump was as well. We simply cannot have him appointing the top prosecutor while he is simultaneously under threat of indictment (or impeachment and removal).

Per r71, Priebus apparently has a notepad where he jotted down action items & follow-ups.

Apparently one of his notes was about Trump & Comey, and supports Comey’s notes that Trump tried to obstruct Justice.

So Mueller has two documents demonstrating Trump’s attempts to obstruct justice.

I’m sure the White House handed over tons of boring notepads not realizing what they contained. They’re too stupid to know that Trump did something illegal, so they probably didn’t even realize that they were handing over damaging evidence to Mueller.

Nixon was smart enough to erase a tape.

And these notes are just as damaging as the Nixon tapes.

All communication in the White House is subject to review. Government employees, even the president, have no privacy re: their jobs.

You raise an excellent point, R75. The Senate cannot put on blinders about this. They have to let it all play out. They have been instrumental in keeping Sessions from getting fired,. But if Sessions is seriously implicated in obstruction, in some thing criminal that is provable, then that also implicates Trump. So Trump can't fire Sessions and appoint someone if he is also criminally proven to have committed Obstruction. Which is the least of what they can get Trump for.

You know, as we watch this unfold, I have to wonder what the Supremes are thinking. Roberts probably, hopefully thinks Trump is despicable. But Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch will side with Trump. But Kennedy and Roberts I think will be with Sotomayor, Kagan, GInsberg and Breyer.

r77....The only SC Justice who will have to deal with this is John Roberts......he would preside over any impeachment hearings in the Senate if congress approves it. It doesnt go before the Supreme Court as a whole.

I was hoping that Rod Rosenstein and the FBI director had a "come to Jesus" moment with Ryan. To make sure Ryan knew how closely he was to an Obstruction charge, and to let him know that Nunes was under investigation, or had compromised himself on a national security issue. I'm still hoping they did. And really. Allowing the committee to look at the papers ( and who really knows what the FBI will make available) but not take the papers is a minor capitulation to Nunes demands. I'm still hoping Ryan's staff makes this looks like a win for Nunes while, at the same time, getting ready to shiv him.

True, R78. But there may be issues that come before the lower courts that may be appealed. I remember during Watergate, Nixon's guys were fighting every step of the way going to court, etc. Judge John Sirica was a tough judge and he stood up to them, but who knows what an happen.

Whatever happens, the closer this gets to the midterms, the madder people are getting about this bullshit.

The longer nunes keeps it up and Jordan foams at the mouth, the more people get disgusted and want them gone.

So keep it up, fools. You can't campaign when you're too busy screaming on TV and your voters have had it.

Remember that weird FBI Twitter account that tweets every-so-often with stuff against Clinton and Democrats whenever Donald is in big trouble? It Tweeted again this morning. It's documentation that Andrew McCabe followed all procedures when his wife ran for office. I think it proves he did nothing wrong, but it usually Tweets shit trying to get Dems in trouble. This was right after the reports started that the FBI has been after the Clinton Foundation again.

It won't let me post a link right now for some reason, but the Twitter account is called FBI Records Vault.

[quote]You know, as we watch this unfold, I have to wonder what the Supremes are thinking.

They are stopping in the name of love.

Giggle r83

The thing that really pisses me and millions of other people off, is that while Nunes and Jordan and Gowdy etc. engage in their buffoonery, the country is burning. In Nunes' case literally. There are millions of people out here who are having a hard time. And no one in Washington gives a fuck, Trump included. It's as if no one is in charge and none of us matter at all to them. Do they even know how angry people are?

2 top Pence aides are leaving, I wonder if something is going down.

One of them leaving Pence is his chief lawyer Mark Paoletta. Maybe he knows he can't defend him since he is guilty as sin. The other guy is Meeks, is a longtime aide from his time in Indiana who helped with Trump-Pence campaign. I'd love to see Pence go down, he is as dirty as all the rest.

Pence always looks like he is holding a fart

Republicans have three options:

1. Ignore Trump and try to carry on with their (unpopular) agenda as best they can. That's pretty much what they've been doing up till now. Note how little the Trump administration was involved with the ACA negotiations or the tax bill negotiations or with anything on the Congressional agenda.

2. Cut their losses, do what's right for the country, and go after Trump, beginning with real investigations rather than the whitewashing that they are doing now.

3. Go on the attack: go after Clinton for her emails, the Clinton Foundation, and Uranium One; go after Obama for wiretapping; go after Susan Rice for unmasking; go after Comey, Mueller, McCabe, et. al. for their investigations and activities.

Option 1 is what they've been doing but it's not working and it's getting harder and harder to ignore that big orange orangutan in the room. Option 2 is simply not in the cards with this batch of Republicans. Congressional Republicans, with very few exceptions, are not about to put country ahead of party, even in a scenario like this with a clearly unhinged, incompetent, and horribly unqualified individual in the Oval Office.

That leaves option 3, which is what I think we're starting to see more and more of. Former Congressional critics like Graham have now started closing ranks, more and more Republicans are spouting the most ridiculous talking points about Clinton, Obama, Comey, and Mueller, implying or explicitly saying that Comey and Clinton should be indicted and Mueller shut down.

Their hope is that three positive things will happen from this:

1. They'll be able to hold their base, most of whom are absolutely convinced that Clinton, in particular, should be locked up. Keeping that base energized is critical for 2018 and right now, anyway, they're in serious trouble with that base.

2. It feeds into the "both sides do it" and "shape of earth: views differ" narrative that lazy journalists adore.

3. It lets them pretend that the various investigations into Trump activities are politically motivated, not based on actual events.

Deja vu r89.

Muriel should give you a discount. Or charge you double.

Shit hitting fan

Ivanka's terrified the investigation will move into family finances, says Bannon gleefully.

Re: Option 3 above:

[quote]The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Friday that the Justice Department investigate for possible criminal charges the author of the now-famous “dossier” alleging the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin during the 2016 election.

[quote]The move by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) marks a major escalation in conservatives’ challenges to the FBI’s credibility as the agency investigates whether any Trump associates committed crimes. Another Republican, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), joined in the letter to the Justice Department.

Note that the WP story also notes that, "Another Republican, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), joined in the letter to the Justice Department." So it's confirmed that Graham is all in for Trump.

No doubt in my mind that Graham is the subject of kompromat.

One more bit of support for Option 3:

[quote]Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) said Friday that President Donald Trump “has a legitimate right to say that he was betrayed” by Attorney General Jeff Sessions due to Sessions’ recusal from matters relating to Russia, which in turn led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.

[quote]“The American people, now, are getting a taste of what people in Washington have known over this last year, and that is Jeff Sessions betrays the people who have had faith in him,” Rohrabacher told CNN’s Ana Cabrera in an interview.

I really wonder just how long Sessions can continue as A.G.? And how hearings for a new (presumably "puppet") A.G. would play out?

Oh r97, I fear there is no limit to how low Sessions can limbo.

She’s been around the block. She’s not gonna bow out now.

They are really, really ramping up the distractions, going after Hillary, Steele, trying to get Sessions removed so someone else can fire Mueller, etc. I wonder if something really bad and damaging to the GOP is about to break. They are just desperate today.

Can they juggle this much?

Something has GOT to be up. It can't just be the Wolff book. Today has been insane.

Talk about a Hail Mary pass.

The analysis by legal experts and pundits is that this latest ploy against Steele from the Senators is complete bullshit with no legal standing and it won't impact the investigation at all. The fact is Steele has an excellent reputation with the FBI, and with British, Israeli and various other Intel operations. He is a former British Intel and is respected and has tons of credibility. So this is just another instance of a feeble attempt to appear to be "fighting" on behalf of Trump. It's another fucking fig leaf.

I get the sense that their backs are against the wall and they’re throwing out everything but the kitchen sink.

[quote]this latest ploy against Steele from the Senators is complete bullshit with no legal standing and it won't impact the investigation at all.

No, but it’ll give Fox something to talk about endlessly until the real news in this cycle dies down.

More Seth Abramson goodies:

Yeah, r105, it will have them in a frenzy for sure. And they won't mention the real news, of course.

I cannot believe my once beloved uncle believes everything Fox says, and gleefully supporting Trump.

And there you, go, r107. That nefarious "deep state" the RWNJs are always screeching about is something dump himself already tried to set up.

Can you get any more transparent? Whatever he accuses someone else of, he is doing himself.

Yes r109. I'm sure there are things he's said and done, small things most of us haven't even noticed, that tie in to his tendency to project. By the time this is over there will be enough to write a thesis on that alone.

Republican leaders and the cabinet are meeting at Camp David this weekend to "discuss their legislative agenda". Do you suppose anyone in the press is going to ask why in the FUCK the Director of the CIA was invited? I wasn't aware Mike Pompeo should still be involved in partisan politics.

theyre planning the final stages if their coup.

Really r111? That is very concerning. They are up to something sinister. Pompeo is not one of the good guys.

R112 I'm afraid there's more than a grain of truth to that. Pompeo is definitely not one of the good guys. And I just read that while Trump has disbanded the Voter Fraud Commission, he turned over responsibility to Homeland Security. Now WTF is that about? I'm beginning to believe more and more that Trump is a figurehead to distract us while these fuckers in the GOP Congressional leadership are really the fascist bastards behind the scenes all set to dismantle our government and officially institute a corporate police state. Anyone who thinks 2018 elections will solve everything has to know they will fight with every fiber in their beings to not give up power. Things may get very ugly in 2018. Update your passports.

[quote]Update your passports

Yep! I have a bad feeling about this HSA domestic travel ID and about the 2018 elections. If they can't steal the electiins, they will stop the elections. Passports for me and my kid just in case!

I have family living in another country I may go visit them in October and I may stay for an extended period of time....asylum. UK.

Pompeo is definitely a traitor. And now Mike Rogers, NSA head, is retiring. So we'll have yet another trump toad running one of our intelligence agencies. I thought today with all the Republican moves something bad about Republicans was about to drop, but I'm starting to think this is just them consolidating power and plotting their move on Mueller.

R114 Agree. I'm not a person prone to hysteria I don't think, but people need to ask themselves why Republicans don't seem to have a care in the world about midterms they are supposedly going to lose in a wave. They are committing obstruction of justice in the open. They're dismantling the government in the open. They're doing nothing to stop a foreign government from interfering in our elections. trump and family are violating every rule in the book. They're doing it all out the open without fear of repercussions.

We have reason to be concerned.

Is there any way for American citizens to petition the UN or NATO for protection or peacekeeping or taking down a dictator or preventing an illegal coup, etc.? I'm serious.

If every Democrat voted in 2018 the nightmare would be over.

Yes, the most important message is to vote. And now you must contribute so that the message can be spread.

R120: You think so? GOP will try to undermine the election process by any means necessary.

I also believe regardless of what Mueller finds with proof, the GOP won't do anything about it.

Rachel is humiliating Lindsay "Benedict Arnold" Graham on prime-time atm.

and also Charles "Chuck the Traitor" Grassley as well.

I hope she gets around to Paul "See No Evil" Ryan

Mitch "Look the other way" McConnell will be the only one who gets away with it. He is the Koch's alpha-1, and he isn't going anywhere.

Perhaps when Miss Lindsey went to play goff twice with DJT, she was advised then DJT and Putty know the dirt. Some of it has been known whispers, but Ruskies get the vids, photos, names, Emails, calls, hotel details, financial transactions, etc.

She has contradicted herself bigtime. Defending and doing the nasty work in behalf of DJT is the low road; and along with Grassley, she was picked to go after Steele. It was John McCain that delivered dossier material to the FBI..

Someone showed Graham their cards.

The GOP has no shame. Also, Rachel confirmed the FBI turned over all the documents Nunes wanted yesterday. And now there is speculation that Sessions will get fired next week since he wasn't invited to the shady Trump/Congress strategy meeting this weekend. Trump and the crooked GOP are doing everything they can to *obviously* block the Russia investigation and we can only watch in horror. I will vote in every election, but I don't know what good it will do with those slimy crooks who seem to be getting away with everything.

Actually, it was confirmed earlier today that Nunes has to go to a skif at the FBI to review the documents hes requesting....hes not allowed to take his phone, and he is not allowed to take notes.....the documents are classified and part of an open investigation. Personally, I think theyre setting his smug ass up.

I wonder if the FBI can give him some phony docs that have some really crazy info, like they have the the pee pee tapes just to see how quickly it gets back to Trump.

[quote] R120: You think so? GOP will try to undermine the election process by any means necessary.

Well, right now, I think it is our only viable strategy. (I'm not R120 by the way.) If the Repukes somehow try and invalidate the election -- because I fully expect them to suffer a crushing rout at the polls -- then we move to plan B which will involve direct action by citizens. Imagine the Women's March X 10. People are fired up. It is going to fuel the Dems chances of winning back both Houses of Congress in 10 months. If we vote in all these Dems and the Repukes try and undermine the election or the winners are somehow denied taking office -- a scenario I cannot even fathom -- then people aren't going to stand for that. They will be rightfully pissed off. Will direct action work? I guess we will find out. We also -- for now -- have the courts on our side. There are many more Democratic and reasonable Republican judges on the bench than there are Trump ideologues.

What is so maddening is that this is a small fraction of the country trying to dictate to the majority of citizens policies and a direction that objectively are flat-out wrong. They are traitors who are not merely in our midst but in charge of the government. I do not believe that ultimately they will prevail -- but I do not underestimate what it will take to defeat them. The depth and breadth of their depravity has been on display for a long time, so none of this should come as a surprise. Still, to see it play out like this is dreadful.

If they are turning on Sessions, as it seems they are, what will Lindsay Graham say?

from july:

"Jeff Sessions is one of the most decent people I've ever met in my political life. Jeff Sessions is a rock-solid conservative, but above else he believes in the Rule of Law. He understands we are a nation of laws, not men," Graham said in a series of tweets Tuesday morning.

"On occasion, I've vigorously disagreed with Jeff but I've never once doubted his integrity or sense of fair play."

Jeff Who?

The NY Times, Washington Post, NBC, and CNN are going to battle each other in getting the details of this ongoing saga out. Republicans in Congress are not going to be able to shut down these corporate media entities. Even Murdoch with Fox has to stay with it to defend , deny, and deflect for the GOP.

The Kochs have no personal loyalty to Trump. They do Pence. And their focus will be the midterms, trying to get Republicans elected/re-elected.

R133: Lindsay will roll over like the bitch he is.

If Sessions is fired, I hope he tells EVERYTHING!! Give those fuckers some real southern justice. I also hope a new AG is blocked until the investigation is over (I can only hope).

Rachel is wrong. Every written report I have read about that meeting said that while the FBI would not allow the House Intel committee and Nunes to take possession of the documents, they would allow them to see SOME working documents related to the dossier, which is about 25 % of what they really want. The announcement was coordinated with today's announcement about the Senate sending

She seems kind of wired and strident tonight. Definitely over caffeinated. But her point is well taken. Right now it seems like the bad guys are winning because it appears that the FBI and the Justice Department are giving in to the pressure imposed by the White House and by key GOP Members of Congress. I think, in fact I'm convinced the FBI is way smarter than that. I think the FBI wants to give the appearance of cooperation but is not going to jeopardize their investigation and that means they aren't going divulge information Nunes wants from Mueller. Rachel is alarmist tonight. Insisting the DoJ and FBI are capitulating. I don't believe they are. Nunes wants to get information he intends to take over to the WH. But The FBI isn't giving up anything. Especially since they are now very familiar with Nunes' machinations. Nunes is a buffoon. Don't be dismayed. There are plenty of Senators and House member of both parties who are not on board with this kind of behavior and are ready to get rid of Trump if he goes too far. We have to help. We need to regularly and forcefully convey to all our Representatives of both parties that we a re very upset with Trump's behavior and we support Mueller. Make sure to call, to e-mail and do it often.

R136 If Sessions is fired, Trump would try to appoint an acting AG while Congress is in a future recess.

Katy Tur just said rumors are that WH staff are contemplating leaving the WH in droves most are very afraid of what the next chapter of the Trump Presidency holds.

Who needs it.

Ran into Kellyanne in Martin's in G'town having like her 19th dirty martini, she said "hey, Tiff" and I told her, "You keep going out and lying for Daddy, we all appreciate it, but a malignant dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is growing rapidly beneath the surface of your face, in the shape of the Crab Nebula, and it will eventually shut down your central nervous system"

Well he should just retire now. Or else there will be 3 more years of chaos and disgrace.

Where was sloppy Steve during the tax bill. Not a peep.

He was supposed to be all about the little guy. So much for draining the swamp.

Please remind deplorables that their saviors forsook them during the passage of the bill.

I forget which senator said it but shortly before Christmas, one of the senators tweeted something like "Imagine if Mueller had a mole in the Trump White House." At that time, it was believed that he was hinting at something. When the Fusion GPS editorial ran, they also mentioned that Mueller/FBI had a source from within the "Trump camp." I wonder who it is and how long they have been a mole.

It's either Priebs, or they got wind of Wolff's book and were referring to that

Louse Mensch has some interesting reporting about Priebus. According to her sources, he made a run for it a while back and tried to escape to Saudi Arabia but was brought back by US Marshalls. This was during the time of Trumps big Middle East and Asia tour. It makes sense as he cut out on the Asia trip after only one day and from Saudi Arabia. Why would someone fly all that way for only one day. Didn't make sense then but does now. Apparently, he flipped then and was a mole in the White House for a couple of months after. GOP and RNC took huge amounts of Russian money so I can imagine that he would want to cut a deal.

When strange things like that happen, it makes you go HMMM? What's going on with that? I felt the same way and the White House didn't have a very good explanation. Same with Bannon coming home early. Currently, I'm going HMMM over Dame Lindsay Graham and his sudden turn towards Trump. How do you go from "If we elect Trump it will be the end of the GOP and we'll deserve it" to helping throw distractions by asking the FBI to investigate Chris Steele who is a British citizen. Can the FBI even investigate a foreign national? Would the UK extradite him if the FBI charged him with something. All so fishy.

Sterle hasn't broken any US laws. This is just a show.

Rachel probably can't say the FBI only let the traitors look at a fraction of the documents they have. She's out for ratings, too.

And the FBI isn't that stupid. They gave Nunes something and they're going to see how long it takes for it to leak or set off orange. Then they know Nunes is a traitor who can't be trusted.

Are Ryan, Nunes, etc. all so arrogant, stupid, or all of the above to not assume that the FBI are watching them?

It’s all too much.

A weird thought just crossed my mind. I'm really glad that Rachel is a lesbian or the Repugs would be lining up people to accuse her of sexually harassing them by putting her arm on their shoulder like they did with Franken. Not that lesbians can't sexually harass but it's a harder setup to pull off and would be such a clown show if they tried that it would be laughable.

According to Politico, if Sessions goes, that dreadful Scott Pruitt over at EPA wants to be the next AG. Ugh. A horrible choice. You know that fucker would try and shut down Mueller in a heartbeat.

R143 Bannon, Kellyanne, etc. were funded by Rebekah Mercer. The Mercers wanted that tax bill Immensely, and did not hold back in giving contributions to do so. The same with the Kochs and others.

Ryan, Nunes, Gowdy, Jordan, Lindsey, Gaetz, Grassley, etc. = obstruction activists, facilitators, and enablers.

I just read some of Seth's twitter thread and my head is spinning. If only 50% of it is true, it really is astounding. This shit goes wide and deep and goes down many paths. The level of corruption, arrogance and complicity is...there are no words.

Well they're all at Camp David this week end with the exception of Sessions, discussing the "2018 Legislative agenda." AKA the Mid terms elections. Now, I honestly believe that his cabinet is so amoral they don't give a fuck about breaking laws or stealing elections. But it is my slender hope that the members of Congress who are resent, the GOP leadership might just worry about the Executive branch overreaching and declaring martial law. I wonder who is there to explain things to them? When you have a gathering like that you have "experts" come in, pollsters,, campaign organizers, etc. come in and literally draw the a blueprint of what needs to be done. The themes, the language, etc. to "sell" their plan and so on. This meeting is the kind someone like a Paul Manafort, Tad Devine, Frank Luntz, etc would attend (for big bucks paid by the RNC) . I guess Pence is there too. Yes. They're all in one place. Camp David.

Actually the cabinet could stage an intervention right now and remove Trump, but it would only be temporary under the law. the 25th Amendment.

Is Kelly with them?

Has anyone else noticed a shift in Trump's twitterings? The content and overall style of his tweets are pure Trumpian, but the nuances are off. No misspellings. Slightly more complex sentence structure. No random Initial caps, or random ALL CAPS.

Either he is typing his tweets and handing them them off for someone to "correct," or someone else is composing and posting them entirely. The latter possibility frightens me.

Or he’s dictating them

Rumored many of his tweets are prepared and/or edited by Stephen Miller. Some of them are too polished in spelling and word use to be prepared in final versions by Trump.

So @banditrandom (bandit aleatoire) is a twitter handle that seems to have some inside info on the Mueller investigation. It gives me quite a bit of hope. THey have contingency upon contingency according to him/her.

Lindsay Graham is scheduled to be on The View Monday! THAT should be interesting.

btw, someone upthread mis-reported one of Rachel's shows. She did NOT report that the documents Nunes wanted were handed over. Near the beginning, she reported the meeting and speculated that was the reason for it but didn't know. By the end, they learned all the details of the meeting: Rosenstein refused to give Nunes the documents.

Trump, his cabinet, Pence, Congessional GOP leaders, their top operatives, etc., are at Camp David right now planning to gut the FBI and other intelligence services, ways to undermine and remove Mueller, further make the Justice Dept. more political, plan new tactics for obstruction, politically prosecute the Clintons, and pursue strategies to steal the 2018 mid-term elections.

One of the entertaining nuggets in Wolff's book is that the Mercers and Trump can't stand each other.

[quote] Well they're all at Camp David this week end with the exception of Sessions, discussing the "2018 Legislative agenda." AKA the Mid terms elections.

By tradition, the AG, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense should not attend any meeting where they are discussing election strategies. That prohibition does not extend to the other cabinet members. But, these folks have trampled all over tradition and the boundaries that have been in place and helped anchor our democracy for centuries. So, if Sessions is the only one of the three who is absent, that (a) would be odd (because the other two shouldn't be there either); and (b) could indicate that he is on his way out. And, as I mentioned at R75, if Sessions is guilty of obstruction of justice -- and it certainly appears that he is -- then he needs to go now. The AG cannot head up the Justice Department if he is a potential criminal defendant. Sadly, that lines up with Trump's interest in getting rid of Sessions.

Congressional (sp.)

[quote]Rosenstein refused to give Nunes the documents.

Could someone fill me on what these documents are and why should they be turned over to Nunes? If they are trying to purge the FBI and fill it with toadies and yes men, we have officially become a dictatorship.

Why are all the Trumptards STILL talking about Bill and Hillary? No one cares anymore.

I agree R165 and as long as republicans control the house and senate nothing will happen to Trump. Republicans are gutting the intelligence services and are doing all they can to discredit the Mueller investigation.

That’s because they all are going to be charged with obstruction. Everybody is so focused on the pres, they forget that a lot of people helped cover this up.

Thanks for the very insightful post R165.

It's not just the Repugs, though R169. How do we get the Democrats to give a shit about any of this, because frankly I get the impression that they don't. I look at the Twitter feeds of the several Dem Senators who I follow and they're filled with posts about Dreamers, Puerto Rico, gun control, etc etc. All valid issues to be sure but WHY THE FUCK don't any of them talk more about this?! It's exasperating!

(Not a Russian troll, a concerned citizen watching his system of government be dismantled before his very eyes while everyone except some Mueller and some Twitter pundits stands idle.)

Where do the Koch’s fit into all this. They got their cabinet, personally chosen judges, hand selected prosecutors and a tax bill that they most likely hand wrote, but what does trump get from them in return?

R172 the Dems don't have the votes, the republicans shut them out of everything or change the rules to make anything they do unless.

I know that, but that shouldn't stop them from shouting from the rooftops about it at every opportunity on every media platform.

Does anyone else remember the Fox News clip with Karl Rove on Obama/Romney election night and his look of consternation and shock when Obama was announced the winner? I do believe that the votes were supposed to be hacked that year too but something went wrong. Someone mentioned that perhaps pro-Obama hackers thwarted Russian hackers at the time.

I remember Rove sputtering and the blonde Fox bimbo stomping backstage with a camera following to make sure they were getting the correct news. She looked MIGHTY pissed and disbelieving too.

R176 All of their polls said that Romney would win Ohio, they were over confident and assumed it was a done deal which is why they were so shocked by the final vote. The same happened to the Dems in 2016.

R177, perhaps but hacking had been brought up even back then.

GOP strategist Steven Schmidt on the dynamics of the West Wing: "As vile as monkeys hurling excrement at each other."

I didn't realize Eric the retard was playing such a big role in the election, the digital director of the campaign says Eric and Jared both had to approve every decision made. Looks like Eric is in deep doo doo too.

R175, the Dems are doing that. They are on every political talk show they can get on. They are giving passionate speeches on the floors of Congress. They are putting out bill after bill even though they don't have the votes. They hold multiple press conferences weekly that they can't get anyone in the media to cover.

R180... every single time I see his face I just think about how he and Ivanka look so much damn alike.

As much as they would like to gut the intel services and the FBI there is still a civil service and they can't summarily fire someone, not even for cause. I have to laugh because when a Democrat is in the WH I sit here wishing they could fire the conservative hold overs and now I'm real glad some competent Clinton era, & Obama era people are around and Trump can't touch them.

You're right about Sessions and McMasters, et al not attending a political meeting under the law. They are prohibited. All these misguided pundits insisting Sessions ought to be fired are as full of shit as the Gillibrand gang who push Al Franken out. I hate Sessions. But he is Mueller's fire wall, and honestly the more shit Trump and his boys dump on Sessions and the FBI the worse it'll go for them.

[quote] misguided pundits insisting Sessions ought to be fired . . . But he is Mueller's fire wall

I accept your premise because there is not enough evidence to find that he has committed obstruction of justice. [Though I believe Mueller probably has sufficient evidence.] And because once it becomes apparent that Sessions will be charged with obstruction it will be equally apparent that Trump is in just as much if not more trouble. Sessions is the firewall by default because he is impotent as a result of the recusal and I'd be willing to leave him in place to buy more time to build a case against these traitors.

[quote] You're right about Sessions and McMasters, et al not attending a political meeting under the law.

Though I worked in this arena for 8 years under Clinton (and I probably should know this), I couldn't recall if the prohibition resulted from a specific law or just a long-standing tradition that Justice, State, and Defense have to be excluded from partisan political activity.

Read this engrossing new train from the invaluable Seth Abramson:

R185 Thanks for the link!

Yes, thank you.

Rosenstein did not refuse to give Nunes what he wanted. They stone-walled for awhile, Nunes threatened to hold the DOJ/FBI in contempt, Ryan backed that, and now they've given in according to Nunes. What he wanted includes all the information the FBI has related to the dossier, how it played into FISA warrant applications, etc. He's also going after several specific FBI agents including Strzok and McCabe.

If I were a source for the FBI and knew that Devin Nunes probably now has access to my name, I'd go into hiding because you know he's going to leak it to trump and the Russians. Hopefully like some think this is a trap against Nunes, but I personally don't trust Rosenstein yet and Wray is a trump appointee and Christie pal.

One of the dangers of all the alt-right's bullshit conspiracy theories like Pizzagate is we all become hesitant to acknowledge actual conspiracies going on in front of us. We question our own sanity and don't want to be like them, so people like me tend to think we're being paranoid. But we aren't. The Republicans are engaged in a wide conspiracy to coverup crimes including....conspiracy. They are attempting to dismantle the FBI. They are destroying the justice department. They are using their power to go after political enemies. We're becoming a banana republic.

You mean like the right-wing conspiracy that HC warned us about and everybody laughed ?

It will all come out in my autobiography:

The Pussy Chronicles: Denial, Deflection, and Spin.

You can always tell when Devin Nunes is lying. His lips are moving. And he will put the best spin on every controversy he's involved in He has already demonstrated this repeatedly. He wants to be seen as doing his part for Trump and his Russian handlers, but he is irremedially stupid.

Nunes wants us all to think the FBI and the DOJ Caved in to his demands. They didn't. Rosenstein and the FBI director allowed Nunes to view SOME of the materials related to the Dossier , but there was never an FBI "dossier investigation." The dossier was turned over to the FBI and the FBI corroborated a lot of what was in it, but the dossier was not the source or the trigger for the Russia investigation as Trump's minions want us to believe.

The reason there is so much focus on the dossier by the Trump people is because Russia wants to know the process through which Steele was able to obtain his Intel. This goes to the very heart of the definition of Treason, and I'd like them to light Devin fucking Nunes and Paul ryan up along with the Trump gang very soon.

Nunes' requests were a lot broader than the dossier, but it was a primary focus. Nunes/Trump are mainly interested in sourcing the information so they can intimidate and stalk and keep certain people under illegal survellance.

Some of the shit Nunes asked for doesn't exist. Some of it is part of an ongoing criminal investigation, and he wanted notes and other working documents the FBI never publicizes. He got less than 25% of what he demanded with his subpoenas. Talk about trivializing the process, Nunes is nothing if he isn't trivial.

No way the FBI will allow Nunes and Ryan to intimidate them. Nunes wanted a lot of different files not limited to the dossier, and he didn't get any files. he only got "viewing privileges" for some of the Dossier related files.

It is illegal for the FBI to divulge the sources of it's information especially in an ongoing investigation especially when they know beyond any reasonable doubt that Nunes is compromised and they can demonstrate that fact in court.

Nunes is the guy who doesn't want this to become a legal case and the FBI would be totally within it's rights to get an injunction to stop Nunes. To believe Devin Nunes bullied the FBI into giving him important information is simply not rational. he'd love you to believe it, but, uh, no.

He is spinning the resolution of the confrontation in Ryan's office into a victory. He very likely also got a very strong warning from the FBI via Ryan. Was Nunes even in the meeting between Rosenstein the FBI director and Ryan? The FBI is pretty pissed off. And they're very aware of the role Nunes played with Trump...and continues to play. They don't need to set Nunes up. He sets himself up.

There are two parts to this investigation. There is a criminal investigation going on, and there is an FBI Counter Intelligence probe going on. Nunes should not and probably is not privy to any serious information from either.

Thank you r191.

The thing that FUCKING pisses me off the most is that the Republicans are going around literally committing treason to undermine the FBI investigation and cover their asses, and acting as if 75% of the GOD DAMENED COUNTRY doesn't know what they are doing!!

r191 Thank you. Do you know if the 9500 text messages he gets from Strzok and Page were all in the batch released earlier or does he get ones not seen before? Have you or anyone else heard if rank-and-file FBI employees trust Wray or think he's doing a good job?

Trump and his Congressional obstruction cohorts are desperate and playing with fire in bashing the FBI, other American intelligence agencies, and someone associated with British intelligence. The FBI personnel support one another from outside intrusion and don't take public criticism lightly. The FBI knows the shit on these collaborators, or can get it, and will expose it if pressed.

There are dirty Congressmen compromised and tied to receiving Ruskie money via pacs or possibly through more sinister ways. Also, others are subject to Ruskie/Trump blackmail whether it be shady financial dealings or details about hidden sexual escapades.

Miss Lindsey is an example of perplexing flipping. Something is unusually strange with this one.

R191 is a much welcome voice of reason. Thank you.

On a different topic, is it really fair to say Miz Lindsey has flipped? She’s always talked out of both sides of her purty, cocksucking mouth. She often says the right thing, but, when it counts, she dependably toes the party line. Isn’t this just the latest example?

I stopped taking Republicans criticizing Trump seriously a long time ago... You can safely assume it's party over sanity for them at the end of the day.

[quote]She often says the right thing, but, when it counts, she dependably toes the party line. Isn’t this just the latest example?

Well, it's a helluva 180 to go from "He's a kook" to playing golf with him and licking his cloaca.

Perhaps offered pee pee twinks flown in from Omsk?

Look we've been watching this happen for almost two years. First they criticize him and oppose him, and then they do the 180. Reince Priebus did it, Paul Ryan did it, other Presidential candidates from his party did it. McConnell did it and got his wife a fucking job out of it! Shameless. Arrogant. In our faces.

It's very disturbing. It's very public. It's more than their feeble excuse of worry about upsetting their constituents, because if they worried about their constituents they'd never have passed the kind of tax cuts they passed. The fact is, they've been bribed or blackmailed. Look at the way Corker modified his stance on the tax cuts and then we found out McConnell bribed him with special provisions.

This is some real bullshit. The conflicts of interest among the President's cabinet are staggering. We're witnessing corruption at a level never seen in this country since it's founding. Blame the fucking Supreme Court for the Citizens United decision. They opened the flood gates for dirty money and there is very little that is against the law now. It's outrageous.

Exactly. The whole thing with Roy Moore was essentially the Trump Story Redeux; pariah to hero in five easy steps.

[quote]Blame the fucking Supreme Court for the Citizens United decision

Truer words were never spoken.

Citizens United may be a problem right now, but thats because congress was supposed to pass legislation to place limits and rules on the donations......which of course, they didnt do. We have to demand they do so.

Most of the Russian campaign money came in after Citizens United.

So um, yeah.

What did trump get from the Koch’s. We know he doesn’t care about the cabinet but they got their choices.

Either he’s a terrible negotiator and gave away the seats for free, or he got something.

I wonder if the cabinet is meeting in a SCIF at Camp David? Do we think the FBI is monitoring any of the members of this meeting. Is Mueller listening in to see how they are going to try to fuck up the investigation? Why would the CIA Director be included in this meeting if it is about legislative agenda. I also thought Secretary of State and Defense were to stay completely out of politics. Definitely a lot more going on that legislative agenda. Lordy, I hope there are tapes.

If the president is compromised by the Russians as many think, what role would the Secret Service play in taking him down. I've heard that they are not allowed in his private bedroom under any circumstances. Could they be recording him? Why did Keith Schiller retire so suddenly? What was he caught doing? Some many questions and so far so few answers.

I’ll be very curious to hear the "results" of his physical next week. If it comes back acceptable to excellent, it means they’re doubling down yet again. If it comes back problematic, then you can bet they’re falling back on Plan B; get Trump out of the WH and hope everyone is so happy to see him go that they let the investigations drop.

Thanks, r191.

It doesn't make sense that he FBI would answer to a piss ant likes Nunes. He isn't in any position to demand shit from them.

I hope you're right and he got a foot broke off in his ass as well as some misinformation to pass Al ng to orange and his Russian handlers.

[quote] I also thought Secretary of State and Defense were to stay completely out of politics.

You are correct -- but they were there. There's a picture they released this afternoon of tRump giving some remarks and it had many members of the Cabinet, Ryan, and McConnell fanned out behind him. It included Tillerson and Mattis. No Jefferson Sessions.

It's very possible that there were some foreign policy issues that needed to be discussed. If they're talking about sanctions or Iran, or North Korea. Immigration, etc. I'm not going to worry myself about anything else they might be up to. The thing is most of these cabinet secretaries didn't know one another before now and it's very unlikely they'd all be on the same page if Trump were proposing something ugly. Also if they're talking about the budget that might require DoD input. Pompeo is an asshole. We're lucky he has a civil service staff of dedicated people to do the work.

It's pretty obvious from Trump's behavior and from the behavior of his rocket scientist lawyers that they really don't know much about what Mueller's up to. So they resort to assholes like Nunes and others to get information for them. They really do not understand how the FBI and the CIA etc. all work. All they know is what they've seen in movies. LOL!

Who is the most likely to be wearing a wire at Camp David.

And who was that fat guy on the left during the press conference? He wasn't THAT fat, kinda fit fat, but his blue blazer was buttoned, Way too small for him, and he was obviously trying hard to hold in his gut.

[R139] I suspect in many of those cases that fear is based on guilt .

Hunny, the feds have enough eyes and ears on Trump to see and hear everything.. He has no privacy. Nada. And if he thought keeping them out of his bedroom would do the trick he's a bigger fool than he appears. The FBI Counter Intelligence division understands exactly what they're dealing with and I think most people in the WH are being very closely watched. I never thought the day would come when I'd be grateful for that.

I'm still curious about this story to this day...

This special report will read like psych thriller

I don’t think trump realizes he is president.

All those people around him are taking complete advantage of him and his lack of awareness.

R215 There is more to that story than we know. A mother of a newborn baby doesn't just up and leave him and her two other toddlers just to roam around Dubrovnik on a yacht with David Geffen and Wendi Deng - especially right in the middle of her father's presidential campaign. The timing seemed really off to me. Like they couldn't have picked a worse time for a "vacation." They were either picking something up or passing something to Putin through his rumored girl friend Wendi Deng. Too many things in this story don't make sense for it to be above board.

Seth Abramson I now think I is ridiculous for stating that what happened to Hillary Clinton’s email was a misdemeanour. He should at least be candid and point out that 99 out of 100 lawyers thought it was far less than that. He’s doing some kind of weird false equivalency with Trump’s treason.

R217, I think he realizes he's President, but has no idea what it means to BE President. It's as if he won a prize or something. He has an almost adolescent concept of what Presidents do. He's into the trappings of the Presidency, but not the work. And he definitely has no concept of how to govern, or an understanding of the Constitution. None at all. He's just putting on a show.

Trump would rather spend time get into a pissing contest with the media or Steve Bannon, than dealing with national domestic policy issues. We look at it as a ploy. Distract/deflect. And it is. But it's also his comfort zone. He reflexively goes for what he is most comfortable with, rather than argue the facts or the merits of anything. He's poorly informed by his own design. Like ADHD on steroids.

Stephen Miller's Stim-o-Ceiver implants continue to function most excellently! (The glazed affect and twitching are minor side effects).

The FBI certainly should know which characters that are compromised or agents of the Ruskies, would be asking them for classified document, and would have a methodology in advance for dealing with such.

Nunes not being reprimanded or censored by Congress shows the Republicans in Congress are complicit, and Speaker Ryan is a spinless leader.

224 = Captain Obvious

225 = Susan S.' tampon

Oh r224, he has plenty of spin......

Trump Force 1?

This Miller guy is FULL OF SHIT............

So Stephen Miller has adopted the standard M.O. of Trumptard spokesmen of talking and screaming over everyone else?

So Bannon apologized?

The strongest argument IN FAVOR of White Supremacists' Cleansing of Jews: Stephen Miller, (born a Jew!).

I think I hate Stephen Miller as much as anyone in the Trump organization - other than Donald. He is just down and out racist. The other at least try to hide it a little.

r232....what do you expect from a douchebag who worked for not only Sessions, but Michelle Bachman before that. It takes a special kind of crazy.

Ivanka is being investigated for her ties to a Russian lawyer. See you in prison, superbitch!

^ right wing site is saying this? Wow. She in grave danger.

227 = better a TV series; an intelligent trollie, not so much.

R235: No, Ivanka is pretty, white and rich. If Casey Anthony got off, Ivanka has nothing to worry about!

Amy Poehler really looks like a fat tub of shit!

Oops - wrong thread.

Tiffany is the smart one. She stayed away from this mess.

No, she isn't, R240. She didn't stay away out of choice.... they just wouldn't let her near any of it.

....and after all those years of probably resenting her father, and brothers and sister, shes probably now thanking her lucky stars they treated her like shit.

Whaddya wanna bet Tiffany was wearing a wire at Christmas dinner?

Miller escorted out by security ...

I have the terrible fear that Repugs will either kill Mueller or they will find some very serious way to obstruct him. I am always on edge and my blood pressure is going to give me a stroke.

R245: I keep hoping Trump will be assassinated or die of a heart attack, but alas he is still here fucking things up!

R245, Mueller has FBI protection -- which is backed up by a LOT of the intelligence community. They are not going to let anything happen to him. Trump and his band of traitors have pissed off a lot of people.

No,Rose, Miller. Miller not Mueller.

As has been stated before -- including just this morning on MSNBC -- this investigation is far more than just one person. Even if Mueller was to be fired, there are many agents who would continue working on the case, plus Eric Schneiderman in New York is just waiting to bring state charges against the Trump crime family if the Mueller investigation suddenly gets shut down. So no, taking out one guy ain't gone stop no show.

The assumption, though, R249, is that if Mueller is fired, that's the first step towards shutting down the investigation. Schneiderman can certainly continue to move forward on money-laundering investigations but that leaves several areas not covered. We're just going to have to wait and see.

You are correct, R250: the NY AG can bring a lot of charges, but there are many areas that only a federal probe can cover.

Aside from protesting, the response would be to get out and vote. Put the Democrats in charge of one or both the Senate and the House later this year and the problem is solved.

R252, our actual voting tabulation system has been fucking hacked by Putin. The Kremlin will infiltrate it this time, too. Therefore we also need Trump and his co-traitors exposed and impeached first.

Trump is due his first physical on Friday:

The worst thing that could happen IMO is for Trump to fire Sessions. If he gets a new attorney general and this corrupt senate will likely approves very quickly, , then the new AG can shut down the investigation and fire Mueller. If that happens the main thing that will suffer will be the counter intelligence probe that is going on right now. That would be shut down. That's the main investigation to show Russian interference.

The other FBI probe into money laundering, tax evasion, the obstruction of justice, the shady real estate deals and anything else that violates federal statutes would also be shut down, but the NY state investigations could continue.

What we need to do is figure out a way to take the vote hacking stuff to federal court right now and force the states and the feds to remedy that situation which could involve standards, including paper ballots, and even setting up federal election monitors. They can do it. It would require lawsuits to be filed in unison in several states where they can get judges who are not corrupted by the current GOP. There are still some around. Even the Bush appointed judges are appalled by what's going on.

Hurry up so my thread title can be used for part 9!

We need some more charges to drop! Come on, Mueller . Work your magic!

Miss Lindsey is on The View as we speak......contradicting everything hes been spouting in the press. He claims hes pro-Mueller.

Why, you think I am going to give that nest of adders a thing, do you, R258?

R258 - I'm beginning to think that Miss Lindsey is also mentally unstable. It's like he has multiple personality disorder. Which Miss Lindsey will show up? It's anyone's guess.

My "ray of hope" is the fact that Trump has alienated the government employees of the intelligence community. If somehow Trump and his cabal shut down the investigation or fire Mueller, then we'll see an intelligence dump so massive that no president could survive without declaring martial law. I don't think the agencies would allow that to happen. Then he would really have to worry about where his food came from.

[quote]Which Miss Lindsey will show up?

Certainly not a straight one.

I can't wait for Trump's interview with Mueller. Anyone wanna riff on how it will go down?

If he had nothing to hide he would want to get in front of Mueller and prove it. That he's already looking for ways to hide speaks volumes.

The state charges troll is relentless. I don’t even think it’s a troll but damn if it’s not persistent.

Well, in all fairness, I understand why Trump's lawyers wouldn’t want him to testify. I mean, you never know what’s going to come out of his mouth.

Although, if you’ve ever seen video of him giving a deposition, it’s astonishing. He’s like another person altogether.

r266....and in those depositions, he lied through his teeth....in fact, I think it was reported that in one of his depositions, he lied over 30 times.....and continued to lie when confronted with the facts.....and didnt tell the truth until he had no other choice.

No, r267, YOU'RE the liar. In fact, I'm going to start calling you "Lying R267". You're a disgrace. People are saying. Sad. No collusion. I have big, big hands.

I hope you are right R262!

I am surprised there aren't mass demonstrations going on already.

[quote] Trump is due his first physical on Friday.

At his age I imagine the doctor will do the finger thing.

Oh yes r270, at my age too! I insist on it just in case.

Are you sure it's a finger r271?

After all the Big Macs he probably has golf balls backed up in his ass.

Rumor has it Miss Lindsey is stressed. What did she get into?

[quote]What did she get into?

A bath house.

tRump lives in his own fantasy world. He keeps repeating that he's not even under investigation and, of course, the ever familiar, "NO COLLUSION!!!" I don't know who he thinks he is fooling. His supporters already believe him and the rest of us aren't buying any of his nonsense.

I can't believe a thread hasn't been started about dumbass tRump saying his Presidency is "consensual "

[quote]I can't believe a thread hasn't been started about dumbass tRump saying his Presidency is "consensual "

Was he confusing things with his relations with Ivanka?

Story on CNN. It was a typo. The columnist he was quoting said "consequential."

Fiddle Dee Dee, r260. Which Miss Lindsey will show up? This one:

Hunny, here's what I don't understand. On Twitter and elsewhere on these talk shows, the Liberal, Progressive pundits repeatedly talk about the cynicism that allows these craven Republicans to keep supporting Trump and turning a blind eye to his excesses and illegalities.

Grassley, Graham, McConnell, Ryan etc. etc. are all being exposed as craven pieces of shit with no morals, no character no ethics, WTF ever. Fine. I get that. But from the GOP perspective, wouldn't Pence be the same? I mean, they could turn on Trump, and install Pence and he would allow them to do the same thing.

My guess is that they figure they need Trump to get them through the Mid Terms. Somehow they think he will be a factor. Or maybe they feel like they need the Russians to get through the mid terms. Hacking them to victory once again.

But maybe once they get through the midterms they'll turn on Trump. Because if I'm Ryan, Pence is way more amenable to my agenda than worrying about a loose cannon like Trump who is, on balance as much a liability as an asset.

Think about it. If Pence were POTUS, the GOP could convince the Media he is infinitely safe than Trump and the Media would buy it! Pence wouldn't get nearly the level of non-stop coverage. And that vast swath of voters in the Middle, suffering from "Trump-fatigue" would tune out because Pence could never attract the level of outrage among the general population that Trump does.

Pence is a dangerous, homophobic racist Christian Right Extremist. But he "looks Presidential" and his style is not strident. He projects the GOP version of dignity. So I just don't understand why the GOP is so devoted to propping up a lunatic.

R281: But [bold] Trump's Base won't support President Pence!

Wanted to add that I believe it's very possible that the GOP believes the Trump Presidency, with its direct line to the Kremlin, is worth propping up because they're all getting the benefit of it through Russian $$$ and technology. Although blackmail is also a factor. But blackmail requires tie and effort, and bribery is so much easier when you're dealing with Republicans.

R282, Some of them would, and the GOP might regain some of the support they've lost to make up the difference. I think the level of support Trump gets from "his base" is overrated.

"time" not "tie"

Russia has all their emails. That has to be what this is about.

Look what they did to the DNC. And when Bannon first went rougue, out came his embarrassing emails

I

I wish some good Liberal Democratic hacker would get a hold of some GOP e-mails and publish them. I wish we could get another audio tape of Paul Ryan or his deputy, McCarthy telling tales out of school. Why hasn't there been any of that. Where Jimmy carter's grandson or whoever that was with the 47% Romney tape? That's what we need right now. We need to turn the tide. Of course the timing has to be perfect.

I listened to a right-wing radio show yesterday while shoveling snow. The host and guest were spinning an elaborate tale of treason, not by Trump or his team, but by Obama's Department of Justice and FBI. They portrayed Devin Nunes as a hero and said the House Investigative Committee under him has all the documentation it needs to "blow this case wide open." Was Obama aware of this deep-state conspiracy to block Trump from the presidency? asked the host. How could he not be? the guest responded.

It was all a bunch of bs, of course, but they made it sound very plausible, naming names and connecting dots. I can see how people who listen to nothing else might swallow it hook, line and sinker. I just don't know what the ultimate goal is -- what happens when their story – and their predicted indictments – go nowhere? Do they just point to it as further evidence of the corruption of the system?

Exactly R286.

Are all the talented hackers working for the bad guys?

And WTF ever happened to “Anonymous”?!

That kind of went nowhere.

[quote]And WTF ever happened to “Anonymous”?!

There's no Anonymous anymore; they've been absorbed into the Russian national hacking team way back as it just pays better.

R287, it's scary. I spend five minutes on an Extreme Right radio station and I want to scream. In fact I have shouted at the radio But I recall when we were having some renovations done to the interior of our home, and the painters, carpet layers, tile guys, carpenters, etc. all listen to that garbage while they work. It was scary. These were men in their 20's, 30's, 40's and they ate that shit up.

[quote]I just don't know what the ultimate goal is -- what happens when their story – and their predicted indictments – go nowhere? Do they just point to it as further evidence of the corruption of the system?

I think of right wing talkers the same way I do radio evangelists. Many of them have been predicting imminent end times year after year since the invention of radio. Because 'their' people prefer complete bullshit to reality, it's a permanent meal ticket.

Agree,R291. Great analogy. When your own life is filled with failures, and it's all shit, or it's way too hard to understand, and you have enough trouble waking up and getting to work on time, you say fuck it. I'm going to stay in my bubble.

They're poorly informed and not only are they "low information" they are also grievance voters. All of us have things we're dissatisfied with, all of us feel angry or put upon at certain times. But the Frank Luntzes of the world have made a career out of polling and spending time with focus groups to make sure those kinds of people are presented with all the motivation and anger they need to act out their grievances at the polls.

If people weren't so easy to manipulate, organized religion wouldn't be as successful as it has been for the past two or three thousand years.

[quote] R287: what happens when their story – and their predicted indictments – go nowhere? Do they just point to it as further evidence of the corruption of the system?

They move on to the next fantasy. They forget the details, they just know they’re angry. Seriously, ask a nutjob what they are angry about, and they won’t know! I’ve done it!

Feinstein just released the Steele Report.

Feinstein unilaterally decided to release Fusion's testimony on Steele Report.

Brace yourselves.

I do not need to brace myself to eat popcorn while my eyes goggle r296.

Steele believed a "human source from inside the Trump organization" had already gone to FBI: "a voluntary source, someone who was concerned with the same concerns we had" (pp.175-6)

Tick tock.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Steele figured out early on that the FBI could not be trusted.

This is why Trump has been saying the FBI can’t be trusted. It’s the same m.o. he used to say that voting was rigged. So when he is accused, he can say, but you said it wasn’t rigged.

‘You said the FBI was fine’

....and this is interesting.......-someone has already been killed because of this dossier-........Im sure that would be the FSB agent that was murdered earlier last year.

Someone already killed because of Dossier.

Grassley and Miss Lindsey Graham are really pissed off. This blows up their "strategy" about the Dossier.

R305 I'm sure they'll develop another treasonous one.

Who's Peter Theil? He seems to be pulling a lot of strings. It was his guy Harrington at the state department who tried to take actions on behalf of Putin. Theil is a "close friend" of Trump's. Daily Beast has the article. Maddow is covering it. It's definitely quid pro quo. It begs the question. Trump is a clueless stupid piece of shit. he's cunning and he is self promoting. But he doesn't understand the weeds of foreign policy moves. So my question is who's pulling his strings He has to have American handlers who work on Putin's behalf. And the GOP Senate and House are co-signing a lot of shit. There has been a discernible shift since September from all the GOP Congressional leadership. WTF is happening.

Reading the Testimony Feinstein released is fascinating. I want to go back and read the dossier as it was released on Buzzfeedl ast year. Is it still available?

r308...yes...just google it...there are multiple links.

Sheldon Whitehouse is on MAddow RIGHT NOW and I love him. Serious crush. He should run for POTUS.

Sheldon is a sexy dilf...potus material for sure

Sheldon Whitehouse and Sherrod Brown would make a hot power DILF couple.

Sheldon is a big meh tonight. Hes way too polite and chooses his words too carefully. He's trying so hard to be eloquent. We need a good old ballbuster in there like Ted Lieu who will call it as it is. They republicans were trying to deceive the public to protect Trump and their own asses.

Could you go into.....um.....explicit detail r312?

Sen. Whitehouse supposedly ripped the GOP traitors on the Senate floor today. But I can not find a link through Google.

[quote]Grassley and Miss Lindsey Graham are really pissed off. This blows up their "strategy" about the Dossier

You’d think ...but this evening I heard a right-wing radio host claim that Fusion GPS’ testimony proves that the Obama White House “weaponized” the FBI and DOJ against the Trump campaign. His reasoning made no sense to me but his deplorable callers certainly agreed with him.

Who is the person that has “already been killed because of The Dossier?”

Does it mean Magnitzky (sp?), imprisoned, tortured,& killed in Russia?

Thank you Senator Feinstein.

r317.......

The deplorables are in it until death, r316. Don't worry your pretty lil head about them.

What this does is expose grassley, miss thang, Nunes, et Al, as the traitors they are to the people back home who are on the fence about the conspiracy.

It's the people back home who can toss these traitors to the curb in November. Dianne dropping this makes them accountable to their voters.

May their heads roll and they end up out of jobs and in prison come thanksgiving.

Yes, lost lives over this.

You'll never know us.

A Buzzfeed guy just said on Morning Joe that this Russian was killed two weeks before the publication of the dossier. So the lawyer may have either meant someone else or just used an opportunity to object.

President Whitehouse in da White House? I could be behind it.

Here’s a summary:

Angered by her (previously?) good friend, Senator Grassley's, efforts to criminally prosecute the former British Intelligence agent, Michael Steele, who uncovered serious wrongdoings about Russia and Trump; Senator Feinstein released the unclassified closed-door testimony of the head of the opposition research firm, Fusion GPS. The firm that had retained Michael Steele.

Fusion GPS was hired by a Republican Presidential Primary candidate to investigate Trump. Once that candidate lost in the primaries he/she stopped funding Fusion, but the Clinton campaign rehired them to complete their work. Fusion GPS retained former MI-6 agent Steele due to his investigative experience and deep international contacts.

Steele quickly discovered horrifying evidence from other connected sources indicating that then candidate Trump was highly compromised, funded, and guided by Putin's associates. Efforts to alert the local (subsequently, reportedly Giuliani/Trump friendly) NYC field office of the FBI resulted in the offices efforts to bury/undermine Steele's findings. So... an alarmed Steele arranged for his findings to be given to Republican John McCain in hopes he could go over the NYC field office's head and alert the proper authorities.

Grassley and Feinstein (and others) eventually heard many hours of testimony from Fusion leadership. Chairman Grassley publicly promised to release the full transcripts, relaying their cloak and dagger research, but only if Fusion's leadership would give approval to do so. (Perhaps surprisingly to him) they did. Grassley then switched gears, reneged, and, along with Senator Graham, began releasing misleading tidbits of the testimony, while calling for a criminal investigation of Steel - possibly meant to scare/discredit him in case the transcripts ever got out.

But why?

You may recall that both Grassley and Feinstein had emerged, ashen-faced, from a classified briefing by FBI director Comey early last year. During it Comey revealed what he then knew about newly elected President Trump. So Grassley already knew Trump was suspect and continued the investigation of Trump with Feinstein. Fusion presumably confirmed what they'd heard in greater detail. So why the about face by Grassley, et al?

Well, it turns out Steele uncovered not only Russian shenanigans by Trump, but stumbled across deep involvement in Russian no-goodnick laundering and other activity by high level "mainstream" republican operatives (e.g. Dick Cheney associates).

Problems may be deeper and messier than the party is willing to admit.

Angered by her (previously?) good friend, Senator Grassley's, efforts to criminally prosecute the former British Intelligence agent, Michael Steele, who uncovered serious wrongdoings about Russia and Trump; Senator Feinstein released the unclassified closed-door testimony of the head of the opposition research firm, Fusion GPS. The firm that had retained Michael Steele.

Fusion GPS was hired by a Republican Presidential Primary candidate to investigate Trump. Once that candidate lost in the primaries he/she stopped funding Fusion, but the Clinton campaign rehired them to complete their work. Fusion GPS retained former MI-6 agent Steele due to his investigative experience and deep international contacts.

Steele quickly discovered horrifying evidence from other connected sources indicating that then candidate Trump was highly compromised, funded, and guided by Putin's associates. Efforts to alert the local (subsequently, reportedly Giuliani/Trump friendly) NYC field office of the FBI resulted in the offices efforts to bury/undermine Steele's findings. So... an alarmed Steele arranged for his findings to be given to Republican John McCain in hopes he could go over the NYC field office's head and alert the proper authorities.

Grassley and Feinstein (and others) eventually heard many hours of testimony from Fusion leadership. Chairman Grassley publicly promised to release the full transcripts, relaying their cloak and dagger research, but only if Fusion's leadership would give approval to do so. (Perhaps surprisingly to him) they did. Grassley then switched gears, reneged, and, along with Senator Graham, began releasing misleading tidbits of the testimony, while calling for a criminal investigation of Steel - possibly meant to scare/discredit him in case the transcripts ever got out.

But why?

You may recall that both Grassley and Feinstein had emerged, ashen-faced, from a classified briefing by FBI director Comey early last year. During it Comey revealed what he then knew about newly elected President Trump. So Grassley already knew Trump was suspect and continued the investigation of Trump with Feinstein. Fusion presumably confirmed what they'd heard in greater detail. So why the about face by Grassley, et al?

Well, it turns out Steele uncovered not only Russian shenanigans by Trump, but stumbled across deep involvement in Russian no-goodnick laundering and other activity by high level "mainstream" republican operatives (e.g. Dick Cheney associates).

Problems may be deeper and messier than the party is willing to admit.

Grassley and Feinstein’s Committee heard many hours of testimony from Fusion GPS leadership. Chairman Grassley publicly promised to release the full transcripts, relating their cloaking dagger research, [italic] but only if Fusion’s leadership would give approval to do so. [/italic]

(Perhaps surprisingly to Grassley) they did.

Grassley then switched gears,reneged and, along with the Senatrice, begin releasing misleading tidbits of the testimony, while calling for a criminal investigation of Steele - possibly meant to scare/discredit him in case the transcripts ever got out.

But why?

You may recall that both Grassley and Feinstein had emerged, ashen-faced, from a classified briefing by FBI director Comey early last year. During it Comey revealed what he then knew about the newly elected President Trump. So Grassley already knew Trump was suspect, and continued the investigation of Trump with Feinstein. Fusion presumably confirmed with they’d heard in greater detail. So why the about-face by Grassley (and the Senatrice).

Well, it turns out Steel uncovered not only Russian shenanigans by Trump, but stumbled across deep involvement in Russian nogoodnik laundering and other activity by high-level mainstream Republican operatives (such as Dick Cheney associates).

Sh*t may be deeper and messier than the party is willing to admit.

“cloak and dagger”

So there are others compromised as well. Nunes definitely, Rohrbacher too. Who else? Who in the Senate? Not American Gothic Charles Grassley??

It cetainly explains why there's been such an obvious change in the way GOP members of Congress have been acting since September.

I sure hope Mueller indicts th other shady motherfuckers in Congress also!

Chuck “American Gothic” Grassley - LOL! That made me guffaw on the Metro this morning. Hilarious!

Then, I got off the Metro at Navy Yard, saw the Capitol off in the distance and laughed again.

Trump is getting nervous.

[quote]The single greatest Witch Hunt in American history continues. There was no collusion, everybody including the Dems knows there was no collusion, & yet on and on it goes. Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing. Republicans should finally take control!

From another thread about the transcript, re Manafort's notes:

[quote]52/ In those notes is a reference to a Cypriot holding company to engage in inward investment into Russia, the note "active sponsors of the RNC," Dick Cheney's press secretary, and finally, adoptions. (Tr. 261-264)

You know Mueller has all this and knows exactly what it all means.

"Republicans should finally take control!"

This sounds alarmingly like he is calling for martial law.

Not martial law, exactly, but almost as bad. If you look at his remarks about Obama and Holder, as well as other examples, he thinks that the role of the Attorney General is to "protect" the President, as though the AG is the President's personal lawyer. And he has, on more than one occasion, asked the FBI and members of Congress to shut down this investigation and/or protect one or more individuals being investigated.

He sees the President as the CEO, with the rest of the government subordinate to him and reporting to him and covering his ass. That's his view of Congress, as well. What he's basically saying, in my opinion, is that they need to step up and do their job of protecting him. Or they're fired, I guess?

How do you know that he does not mean martial law, R333? Why wouldn't he stoop that low?

Because he specifically asked "Republicans" to take control, R334. He's not smart enough to impose martial law on his own.

Grassley's response, when asked about this:

[quote]"I dont intend to have a discussion with the prez on that point.& I hope he doesn't call me & tell me the same thing that you said he said."

Even Grassley uncomfortable with being openly asked to commit obstruction of justice by the Trump idiot, and certainly not wanting to publicly say he'll do it. No idea what these fuckers will say behind closed doors, though.

[quote] Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing

They sure are, but not for the reasons given by Trump.

Bit by bit, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the GOP is circling the wagons not just around the president, but around the GOP itself. Something big is getting uncovered.

Yes, R339. Time to hang them all.

48 people convicted in Wategate scandal...The current administration should take note...

R341, I can name at least 22 co-conspirators in this scandal off the top of my head; god knows how many more unknown, behind the scene types there are. I am guessing at least 80+?

Nunes Manafort Flynn Julian Assange Glenn Greenwald Bannon Jill Stein (direct connections to Putin) Robert Mercer Rebekah Mercer Donald Trump Don Trump Jr Eric Trump Tad Devine (direct connections to Paul Manafort) Sanders (Huckabee) Sanders (Bernie, per direct connections to Tad Devine) Grassley Ryan Lindsey Graham Ivanka Trump Jared Kushner Guiliani Pence etc. etc. etc. etc.

I don’t know who this Tad Devine is, but I simply MUST share a jail cell with him! Devine and Divine! Oh, the prison hijinks we’ll get up to together.

R343....hes one of Bernies top political advisers....and a business partner of Paul Manafort. Coincidence ?

Back in July (?) of 2016, when Wikileaks started releasing the Dem's emails that were hacked, the Republicans bragged that only the DNC was hacked, not the RNC, and if they were, why was nothing released? I, (and many others), speculated on here that I was certain the Repubs WERE hacked, just that the information in the emails was far more salacious and with details of criminal activity. So the Russians would hold on to them, and either release or use them much later when they can serve a better purpose. Obviously, NOW is that time. The info in those emails is being used to blackmail people like Grassley, Lindsay Graham, maybe Paul Ryan, et al.

R344, Tad Devine was also running Bernie's campaign at the same time (more or less) that Manafort was running Trump's campaign. And I myself have wondered if Devine was another Russia plant. However, I'm willing to believe that Bernie didn't know this and was just a useful idiot.

I have no evidence of this, of course.

Oh, boy, the Trumpturd snowflakes are in full meltdown mode SCREAMING "NO PROOF!", "INDICT FEINSTEIN". They really don't understand the Constitution or that this country was not set up for a dictatorship of one party.

Also, comments like "I'D TRUST A RUSSIAN OVER A DUMMIECRAT!" reveals where they really stand.

The future of our country is too important to be left in the hands of one man (Mueller).

The American people --collectively-- need to do whatever it takes, (nonviolently, of course), to remove all of the traitors from positions of power.

R349, wait, are you joking? Mueller is the only thing standing between us and complete authoritarian rule.

Mueller and RBG not dying in the next ten months, to be honest.

Republicans in the Congress prefer "protective mode" for short-term gains and hopefully retain their re-election chances. But they will go down in history as treasonists or treason enablers, obstructors of justice, and part of the biggest political scandal in American history. It may take awhile, but such will be their legacy.

This is gonna take some time. As wonderful as it might be for this to be wrapped up by the midterms, I have a feeling we're looking at 2020 or even beyond. If it’s as big as it appears, it’s not going to be quick.

Strap yourselves in and pray for RBG's health.

[quote] If it’s as big as it appears

Pics please.

[quote]But they will go down in history as treasonists or treason enablers, obstructors of justice, and part of the biggest political scandal in American history. It may take awhile, but such will be their legacy.

They care more about their (foreign) bank accounts than their legacy. Hit them where it REALLY hurts, their (foreign) bank accounts.

Anonymous The Sequel: This Time, It's Personal.

Trump is trying to convince everyone just what a stable genius he is. It's not working:

“It was a tremendous meeting. Actually, it was reported as incredibly good, and my performance — some of them called it a performance; I consider it work — but got great reviews by everybody other than two networks who were phenomenal for about two hours,” Trump said in front of the cameras.

He then claimed that the anchors on the programs that aired his remarks sent the White House letters “saying that was one of the greatest meetings they’ve ever witnessed.”

“And they were great for about two hours. They were phenomenal,” he said of the cable news networks. “And then they went a little bit south on us but not that bad. It was fun. They probably wish they didn’t send us those letters of congratulations, but it was good.”

It's horrible watching this deterioration in real time. And even more horrible knowing that this isn't just the crazy man down the street: it's the President of the United States.

From WaPo:

Mueller adds veteran cyber prosecutor to special-counsel team

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has added a veteran cyber prosecutor to his team, filling what has long been a gap in expertise and potentially signaling a recent focus on computer crimes.

Ryan K. Dickey was assigned to Mueller’s team in early November from the Justice Department’s computer crime and intellectual-property section, said a spokesman for the special counsel’s office. He joined 16 other lawyers who are highly respected by their peers but who have come under fire from Republicans wary of some of their political contributions to Democrats.

Dickey’s addition is particularly notable because he is the first publicly known member of the team specializing solely in cyber issues. The others’ expertise is mainly in a variety of white-collar crimes, including fraud, money laundering and public corruption, though Mueller also has appellate specialists and one of the government’s foremost experts in criminal law.

Why putting Mueller's team in the spot light? I fear for their safety. Because you can bet that Trump and the GOP will try to find something about one of them in order to discredit them all. Or they just make something up (see Hillary and her Emails).

R356, Trump sounds like such a blithering idiot in those remarks, I'm wondering if he's setting up a 'Not Guilty By Reason of Mental Defect' defense down the line. Or I would if I thought those remarks weren't the result of him being an extremely stupid malignant narcissist.

He really is only capable of talking about one thing, isn’t he?

I've been wondering about that too r360. and down the road I can see people like Graham saying "I was being nice to the poor disabled man"

I honestly agree with 349. It's not that Mueller can't be trusted to get the job done- it's that Republicans are working quickly to do an end run around him by removing Sessions and replacing him with someone who will fire Mueller. And as much hope we have in replacing this traitorous bunch in the long-term elections, they seem to be doing their best to undermine that to: by passing generous voter-restriction laws in many states, gerry-mandering, travel restrictions,etc. Let's just hope we make it to November with our Constitution in one-piece.

R363: How do travel restrictions tie in with voter restrictions?

Such a great meeting it was! I even learned what a clean bill is!

I read somewhere that Mueller is investigating around 75 people in this case.

R37: Wow - Shit is going to hit the fan BIGLY! This will make Watergate look like a cakewalk.

You're right this is a huge investigation, and it will go on for years. I predict there will probably ultimately be more than 100 people indicted on various charges. There will probably be several phases, with the Trump White House and the 2016 election being phase one. At some point it'll morph into looking at cabinet officials, and eventually members of Congress will be investigated by the FBI and the FBI Counter Intel division. This is like some huge spiderweb of corruption . If the Dems are fortunate to take control of Congress we will have committee hearings like Watergate on TV ad lots of bills that fall under the category of reform legislation. But if we really want to help we need to work on getting Dems elected in state houses. Governors, SoS, Attorneys General, judges in the State courts and state legislative majorities.

Trump doesn't like you saying negative things about him.

[quote]President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he intends to “take a strong look” at libel laws to make sure they cover published statements that are malicious and known to be untrue — the very definition of libel.

[quote]Trump made the tautological — if vaguely threatening — statement to reporters at a cabinet meeting.

[quote]“We are going to take a strong look at our country’s libel laws so that when somebody says something that is false and defamatory about someone, that person will have meaningful recourse in our courts,” he said.

CNN's Erin Burnett had on this Congressman, Matt Gaetz, trying to discredit the dossier, FBI, Democrats, HRC, etc. He led a small group earlier to try to remove Mueller. Burnett challenged him about his attack on the dossier. However she failed to ask him about his on financial connections to Russians giving money to campaign pacs.

I am fine with hearing rational Republicans speak their point of views. But Gaetz is there to push a falacious propaganda line of attack contrary to facts. There is nothing about Gaetz that provides truth, just his intent to undermine the investigation.

This is what annoys me about CNN.

Funnny re: how sensitive to the touch Drumpf is to people talking ab out him and now trying to "work on" libel laws.

Did he care about Libel laws and people knowingly saying things that aren't true when he was touring around saying Obama wasn't born in the US?

Of course he didn't care. He thinks laws don't apply to him.

Cheeto will be the first one prosecuted under any tougher libel laws.

I hope Hillary tweets asking Trump to keep her informed about what he finds out about those libel laws because she might have some use for them.

He's so fucking stupid. Again, he oinks out shit that he's guilty of.

Does Dumpy realize that those libel laws will affect him too? "crooked Hillary" and all the birther nonsense, both said with malicious intent.

I’m afraid about this interview request of Trump. It seems too early.

I long for the day when I open DataLounge in the morning and read that Trump and his family and 20 others (my estimate) have all been arrested.

How so, r376?

If Flynn flipped and the info we've seen from the Senate Intel committee is accurate, interviewing this dotard would be a logical step.

Remember, Mueller is 6months ahead of anything we've seen. Plus he has the tax returns.

[quote]Does Dumpy realize that those libel laws will affect him too?

He did but then early onset dementia kicked in.

From the other thread:

"There was a brief moment after his election when Trump recognized he needed a strong First Amendment to protect his own speech. When asked about his plans to change libel laws during a New York Times interview on Nov. 22, Trump said, “Actually, somebody said to me on that, they said, ‘You know, it’s a great idea, softening up those laws, but you may get sued a lot more.’ I said, ‘You know, you’re right, I never thought about that.’ I said, ‘You know, I have to start thinking about that.’ So, I, I think you’ll be O.K. I think you’re going to be fine.”

Josh Marshall says we are at the end of the beginning of this investigation. We have a way to go. My hope is this is settled after the mid terms, like in 2019.

Seems to me they might be doing the obstruction of justice part first—Comey's firing, the Don Jr meeting, etc.—in which case interviewing Daddy might make sense right about now, since Flynn is in a position to give detailed info about those events, and no doubt has done so, to save his son. So, coverup first? For the (multiple) crimes it sounds like he is building a case about criminal activity begun many years before that continued into the campaign, transition, and possibly the WH itself—which is much more complicated to prove (money laundering, wire fraud, etc.).

The fascist style rants about muzzling the press and firing Mueller are going to get a lot worse.

I hope for 2019 as well, r380, providing Dems have majorities. This has to be done and it can be, if people vote. The midterms are not that far away. I know people who are talking about buying second and third cars, mini vans, to drive people to voting stations.

I am confident it will happen, and I can't wait for the fear and humiliation.

Here's something to ponder, to keep in mind. All these voter suppression laws? All the gerrymandering? All the shit laws and repressive measures and bullshit we are getting in states across this country? It all evolved out of a lack of interest and a lack of participation on our part.

We have seen repeatedly how bad the Republicans are. They have always been negative, divisive, dishonest. They campaign on fear, distortions, and division. In a word, they lie. There is no reason anything they say should ever be believed. They have a proven track record of failure.

When they get into office they fuck up everything and they demonstrate by their actions that they don't care about us. Yet they keep winning. And now they are using more sophisticated methods and they are blatant about their lies and their repressive measures and they don't seem to give a fuck about how it all plays with voters.

I am a socialist and I voted for Hillary, but R383, you really need to read an American Government textbook if you believe that the Republicans have always been "bad." And while you're at it, look up the "Solid South" and "yellow dog Democrats."

What if you are all wrong? Mueller is a Republican. Why do you think he is any different than The rest of them? He may be on a course to indict people like Manafort and Flynn and let the Big fish go free. You have all invested so much in him. But why? What happens if you are all wrong And he is just like the rest ? What happens to the country then?

Used to be when I was a kid, Republicans were for fiscal responsibility but didn't really give a shit about social issues. They didn't enter the equation. I don't remember them going crazy until Reagan courted the evangelical religious nuts. My dad is still like this but has gravitated towards Dem since Trump hit the scene. His wife is a Boston liberal.

R385, my neighbor knows a lot of intel guys and he said Mueller is a very decent, stand up guy who puts aside politics on his job.

I hope you are right. But I don’t have a lot of faith. We need a backup plan if Mueller exonerates Trump.

R387 I don't think Mueller would exonerate him (don't think he can anyway). Mueller is a patriot, not a party slave.

This is kinda illuminating... might help explain some of the vehenent boostering of the Cheeto by many on air pundits...

" This has to be done and it can be, if people vote. The midterms are not that far away. I know people who are talking about buying second and third cars, mini vans, to drive people to voting stations. I am confident it will happen, and I can't wait for the fear and humiliation. "

Are you not aware that our actual voting process, as in actual vote totals, were hacked by the Kremlin and will be again unless all heads of this Trump hydra are decapitated?

The problem in the US is a toxic mix of bad education, religious brainwashing, trash culture and chauvinism.

That's why people still vote republican.

-------

Tad Devine, Bernie Sanders' campaign advisor, BTW along with Paul Manafort helped install a Putin puppet in the Ukraine. When Ukrainians found out they ousted the guy, charged him with high treason and he fled to Russia, where he lives in exile now.

Putin's money is far reaching and even democrats are not immune to bribery from Russia. How much Sanders knew of this is subject of speculation. However is is easy to assume that he was the perfect useful idiot and a very handy tool to take more votes away from Hillary.

Frank Bruni was interviewed recently. He fears the outcome of the Mueller investigation will not be we everyone thinks or has invested in. I fear that too but then I step back and read something like the Fusion GPS analysis and I just think how? There are so many different angles, this shit is so wide and deep, I really don't see how it doesn't reach Trump and his inner circle.

Clearly the repugs are concerned about the results of the investigation.

The problem is that Mueller can't prosecute Trump or anyone from his investigation. All he can do is collect the data, aka investigate, send his findings to the senate or council and make a suggestion how the senate or council should procede and the senate or council can listen to him or make their own decision, but their decision is what matters and what will be done. When he presents his findings to an all Republican senate or council and he suggests they should impeach Trump, and charge his co-conspiritors for treason or sedation, but they refuse to do so, for some BS reason then that's that and the general public has to decide if their supposed government acts on their behalf or not and if they should get their asses off the couch and their hands out of the KFC tubs or just go "Oh well, it is what it is!".

Civil war in America 2020.

[quote] The problem is that Mueller can't prosecute Trump or anyone from his investigation. All he can do is collect the data, aka investigate, send his findings to the senate or council and make a suggestion how the senate or council should procede and the senate or council can listen to him or make their own decision, but their decision is what matters and what will be done. When he presents his findings to an all Republican senate or council and he suggests they should impeach Trump, and charge his co-conspiritors for treason or sedation, but they refuse to do so, for some BS reason then that's that and the general public has to decide if their supposed government acts on their behalf or not and if they should get their asses off the couch and their hands out of the KFC tubs or just go "Oh well, it is what it is!".

This is 100 percent false. Absolutely false. I can't believe we are still having this discussion. Mueller has all the authority of a federal prosecutor. Please read Rosenstein's memo appointing Mueller. It is right there. He most certainly can prosecute people -- which is why Flynn and Papadopoulos have pled guilty and why he indicted Manafort and his associate. He charged all four of them -- in other words, he prosecuted all four of them and two have pled guilty. Whether he can prosecute Trump is an open question. Ken Starr -- who was appointed under a different authority than Mueller -- was of the opinion that he could indict Bill Clinton. Legal scholars are divided on whether Mueller can indict Trump.

[quote] What if you are all wrong? Mueller is a Republican. Why do you think he is any different than The rest of them? He may be on a course to indict people like Manafort and Flynn and let the Big fish go free. You have all invested so much in him. But why? What happens if you are all wrong And he is just like the rest ? What happens to the country then?

I've known Bob Mueller for 20 years. He is a Republican in the same way Dwight Eisenhower was a Republican -- he is a patriot first and foremost. He is honest as the day is long. If there were violations of the law he will prosecute them no matter where they lead or who is involved.

R396: Tell Bob Mueller we are so grateful for him and his investigation!

[quote]This is 100 percent false. Absolutely false. I can't believe we are still having this discussion. Mueller has all the authority of a federal prosecutor.

Yes, he can, but as a member of the Republican Party will he do so? What the Republican Party is doing now is discrediting him in advance so they can dismiss his advice. And there is no friggin way he will act as federal prosecutor without the backing of the Republican senate and the Republican Party which happens to be implicated in the Russian mess. The only benefit Mueller serves at all is to give the general public a hint of how corrupt the GOP is. And the GOP will call it Fake News (already calls it that way).

R398 go back and really study and learn from the Watergate Scandal. Truly. The Nixon administration did everything it could to stop it. Nixon fired people, defied federal judges, tampered with evidence, and had his press secretary and others from his administration insisting this was a partisan witch hunt with the"Liberal" media going after him.

In fact Nixon went to war with the media. Go to you tube and see what you can find. Not necessarily the hearings themselves, but the news conferences held by Ron Zeigler. Those of us who are old farts have a lot more confidence in Mueller than we had back then. Watergate went on for a lot longer too.

If it had not been for the Media revelations in Watergate, there would not have been the investigations and the hearings. The Media today is corrupted, but it can still drive this thing. We are part of it too. We have social media and it helps us keep the pressure on the Media and on members of Congress, and we can expose and inform much easier than they could in 1973. We can also get the word out and organize faster and easier.

[quote] And there is no friggin way he will act as federal prosecutor without the backing of the Republican senate and the Republican Party which happens to be implicated in the Russian mess.

Please stop throwing out ridiculous, uninformed hypotheticals and pretending that they have a basis in reality. They don't. Mueller is going to enforce the law. He is not going to consult with the Republican Senate, the Republican party, or Republicans anywhere. He has on his staff some of the most respected lawyers in the country. They aren't sticking around to participate in some ridiculous cover-up. I've known Jeannie Rhee as long as I've known Mueller. She would never be a part of sloppy operation that kowtows to Repukes and allows them to get away with crimes.

[quote]If it had not been for the Media revelations in Watergate, there would not have been the investigations and the hearings. The Media today is corrupted, but it can still drive this thing.

You have more faith in the political system and the news media than I do. But nothing would make me happier to be proven wrong.

Who are you r400?

Or, if that question makes you uncomfortable, who aren't you?

[quote]Please stop throwing out ridiculous, uninformed hypotheticals and pretending that they have a basis in reality. They don't. Mueller is going to enforce the law.

Comey was declared an honest man with integrity by Obama and by panelists on the Bill Maher show around the time Donald Trump moved into the White House. Look how that turned out. I repeat my comment above.

[quote]You have more faith in the political system and the news media than I do. But nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong.

[quote] Who are you R400?

Sorry, but I'm not going to spill. Even if I just gave some clues, it would be easy enough for some of you sleuths -- who identified the D.C. sous chef killer -- to figure out how I know or am connected to a number of people currently in the news, including Bob Mueller and Doug Jones.

So what exactly is Donny Two Burgers guilty of, r404? If you know Mueller.. are the tapes real? Is he being blackmailed financially? What do they have on him?

This is DL r405. There are official DL questions to be asked of Mueller.

No, no, no, no R404. I know Mueller. I know Jeannie. I know Rosenstein. I am not in communication with them, nor would I ask any of them anything about this. Every one of them knows how to keep these matters strictly confidential.

R407 you are helping many of us from losing our friggin minds. I feel like any day my brain will shut down and I won’t be able to babble my name—that’s how tightly wound I am under this administration. I’m keeping the faith. I trust Mueller but I am also trusting that people do the right thing and he doesn’t get derailed.

[quote]Yes, he can, but as a member of the Republican Party will he do so?

He already has: two indictments and two guilty pleas. Please stop with these silly drama queen hypotheticals.

[quote]And there is no friggin way he will act as federal prosecutor without the backing of the Republican senate and the Republican Party which happens to be implicated in the Russian mess.

He already has and there is no reason to think he will not continue to do so.

r409 small fish.

Look, r409. You are optimistic, and I am cautious. That's all. You have your right to be optimistic and I have my right to be cautious.

I would hardly call the national security advisor a small fish....same with the campaign manager

But can he prosecute a sitting president?

Well that is up for debate. Now that's progress. Because there was a time, Pre - Ken Starr, when common assumption was that no, you can't prosecute a sitting POTUS. But now there are those who say yes and those who say no.

I know one thing. Clinton was deposed while President and I believe he was charged while President. The impeachment came after the charges. I think. It all seems like such a blur now. Yes, it's true the Special Prosecutor operated under a slightly different set of rules back then, but I don't think those rules changes would necessarily impact the SP power to charge a POTUS with a crime.

Ordinarily, back in the Nixon time, they held hearings. They had grand juries. Then the findings were delivered to the House Judiciary by the Special Prosecutor, and the House Judiciary committee would draft articles of impeachment based on the findings. The Judiciary committee would vote on the articles of impeachment (charges) and then the whole House of Representatives would vote. If the vote favors impeachment the Senate holds a trial presided over by the Chief Justice of SCOTUS.

Are you Miss Jill Wine-Banks, R400/R404?

R414 here. I meant that in Nixon's time there were serious public investigative hearings that were very different from what we have now which is a sad fucking joke.

R415 I love Jill! but IM our DL lawyer who knows Mueller and that crowd may well be a D.C> area attorney who has come to know them through various Bar association meetings or other professional activities related to the practice of Law. Our guy may have even served on the staff of a Member of Congress or staffed a committee that dealt with them. I'm betting he was or is Congressional staff. My favorite Judiciary Staffer has always been Julian Epstein. He used to be pretty hot in addition to being really smart. He doesn't seem to make the rounds the way he used to back when Clinton was getting his ass handed to him. I wonder what Julian is up to.

The role of constitutional "checks and balances" escapes this Congress.

You too, Supreme Court, for your "Citizens United" decision.

All three branches of the federal government have brought on hell.

So many politicians, journalists, even lawyers DJT has engaged, act intimidated by him and cower. It takes thick-skined, smart, confident, and principled people to challenge him.

This personality cult is a result of human conditioning.

Poster who knows Mueller and Rosenstein, thank you for your input. Can you give us your opinion of Rosenstein? Is he a properly honest, standup guy in whom we should have faith? He was at the Capitol yesterday seeing senators in a secure room. Should we be worried he'll facilitiate the GOP obstruction or is he smart and honest like Mueller?

Trump's crap in the video at R417 re. not having his glasses and the text is too small is text book for someone who can't read. I am pretty much convinced he has huge literacy issues. I think he manages with teleprompters because he's already gone through the text with someone and is prepared for what it says.

Also, Mueller's guys are not going to be anything like that somewhat flakey lawyer in the video for him to deal with: from what I've read these are some of the smartest lawyers in the country and I can't imagine they will be intimated by Trump's usual crap. I would expect them to be highly professional, completely prepared and have the answers already to any questions they ask him. If they want to interview him, it's just going to be to trap him in his own lies; they'll know they can't expect to get any truthful facts from him.

For R421.

LOL R422. I have seen that before and it's hilarious. One of Samantha Bee's best IMO.

Thanks, r407, for your insight and the "talk down". You can understand why we're all scared and angry and don't think the rethugs will do jack shit no matter what's found.

If you're in a position to do so, please thank Mueller and his team for taking on this monumental task. If they're anything like my friend the former Revenue Agent, they're happy as a pig in poop with a challenge like this and will be incredibly thorough and fair.

Reuters @Reuters

BREAKING: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon due to appear Tuesday before House committee for Russia probe

Here's Bannon’s chance to get back in daddy's good graces.

It would be nice if Bannon took a shower before he appears.

I'm at work. Will get back to you all this evening. And, no, I am not Miss Jill Wine Banks -- and I never wear jewelry.

Or cover his ass, R426, if he doesn’t want to go to jail.

Invoke the 25th.

"I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, ” Mr. Trump said in an interview Thursday with The Wall Street Journal. “I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised.”

Trump on whether his relationship with Bannon is permanently tarnished: "I don’t know what the word permanent means."

^^ Signed: Very Stable Genius

[quote] "I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, ” Mr. Trump said in an interview Thursday with The Wall Street Journal.

WTF?! Okay, he has cracked!

And he just now called multiple countries, verbatim, “shitholes”, on live TV.

25th fucking amendment, he is clinically insane, insane, insane...

Trump's 35% or so base loves him saying "shithole counties". It makes Republican politicians nervous though.

R406, that was refreshing! Really, don't forget our priorities gentlemen!

Say "shithole", Wolf Blitzer. You are not that sophisticated.

If the president says it, the media should report it as stated. The media wasn't over protective when they failed to report that Trump was a fucking Russian asset. They need not be protective when he says shit. We can handle it.

Well, Ana Navarro - a Republican - was the only talking head on TV to dare quote him on the pussy, much to the chagrin of the other Republican femmes with the blonde bump hairdos and the excessive make-up.

Speaking of other Republican femmes, WEHT those bimbettes who were spokespersons and defenders and interpreters of Candidate Trump and the early weeks of his presidency.

R439, DL will not speak to you until you correct your acronym.

Like that shoplifter and the McEnemy girl, r439?

[quote]Donny Two Burgers

I love this, r405. Kudos

The president thinks that private text messages from the FBI agent who was released from Mueller's investigation are "a treasonous act."

[quote]“This is the FBI we’re talking about—that is treason,” he added. “That is a treasonous act. What he tweeted to his lover is a treasonous act.”

Trump also claimed that "everybody wanted Comey fired."

[quote]“I should be given credit for having great insight,” he added.

He'll never criticize his blackmailer. And ain't referencing Miss Lindsey.

Classic projection: treason.

Kyle Griffin‏ @kylegriffin1

PARIS (AP) — Cybersecurity firm says Russia-linked hackers are laying groundwork to spy on US Senate staff

---- I think some intelligence guy on cable news also said that if he were foreign intelligence he'd target the Fox and Friends crew since it's obvious to the naked eye that Cheeto gets his "policy" from them.

^^ "The table was set to reauthorize American eavesdroppers’ vast surveillance powers. Then came a ‘Fox & Friends’ segment—and the almost inevitable tweet."

[quote]WEHT those bimbettes who were spokespersons and defenders and interpreters of Candidate Trump and the early weeks of his presidency.

Kayleigh McEnanay, bimbette #2, published a book this week: "The New American Revolution: The Making of a Populist Movement." I assume it's filled with as many lies as her TV appearances were.

And Ryan had to personally school him on the FISA issue.

I’m thinking that Mueller is using the “Will The President Be Interviewed By The Special Prosecutor Or Not” thing as a distraction of his own.

I don’t think he could be less interested in whether Trump comes in or not.

He’s had the goods on President Bone Spurs for months.

I think he knows they’ll stall & stamp their feet for weeks or months. Meanwhile he and his team have that time to keep plugging along on their investigation.

I am also convinced that Mueller’s investigation has moved far beyond simply charging the President with crimes, although I’m sure that will happen as well.

I think “the vast right wing conspiracy” Hillary Clinton warned us about is what Mueller & his team have found themselves in the middle of!

I fantasize every day of buses full of US Marshals descending on the Capital with dozens of arrest warrants, perp-walking these traitors out of their offices and into prison.

"I am also convinced that Mueller’s investigation has moved far beyond simply charging the President with crimes,"

Wash, rinse, repeat: this will boil down to money laundering and racketeering by Trump and his dumb ass kids long before he decided to run for President and the 2016 campaign/election. The collusion shit is iffy and may not stick. The charges that will stick are money laundering and racketeering, and that's what has all the Trumps on a dither. Bet on it!

Add obstruction of justice to that, R451.

I read this on another site I visit and I was wondering if there was any info about these states.

[quote]Apparently, the fascists have four CONVICTED criminals running for a congressional or senate seat. The dem’s have one, who has already been denounced by the party.

Why wouldn't it stick that Trump was blackmailed into colluding with Russia or that an ongoing relationship with Russia would benefit Trump personally and be detrimental to the US and he chose his own advantages over the US?

TREASON!!!

THAT is what I want “to stick!”

A CAPITAL crime by the way.

In my mind this will end with Trump being dragged out of the White House crying like a baby after a 24 hour stand off between him, guarded by his last remaining Deplorables, and National Security. And Trump practically fleeing from the Deplorables who want him to die as a martyr for their cause.

I once saw this Marlon Brando movie with Jeanne Simmons. I love them both. Anyway the name of the movie was Desiree' and it was about Napoleon. At the end of the movie, She goes to Malmaison where he has barricaded himself threatening to destroy Paris, while the allied forces are waiting for his final surrender. He's pissed. He refuses to surrender. He digs in. Finally. They get Desiree' who's also the Queen of Sweden, to go to Malmaison to insist he surrender. The movie ends dramatically with Jeanne Simmons walking away from a broken, disheveled Napoleon, as he stands there glowering, and she is carrying his sword. Close your eyes. Pretend it's Paul Ryan wearing the bonnet with the grey ribbon bows, and Trump glowering as Ryan exits the barricaded White House carrying...a sack of Big Macs.

If you really loved me r457, you'd call me Jean.

Supposed Trump is getting so unraveled and so angry he calls on Putin to intervene and try to help him deal with the Mueller investigation. And he does it in such a clumsy open way it is obvious to everybody?

You have to know that with Trump as his top asset Putin's not looking forward to seeing him exposed and removed from office. Especially if it involves exposing all the Russian Oligarchs and the money laundering.

My point is that sometimes we're so preoccupied that we overlook the next steps from the enemy's point of view. We are focused on Mueller getting Trump. But if Trump is supported by Russia, and Putin stole this election, which is being confirmed every single day as more evidence and information comes out, then we have to also consider what the other side is up to .

We can't just assume the assholes Trump hired as his lawyers are going to be carrying this on their own. And also think about Congress. We have to believe that Putin didn't just put all his hopes onto Trump. Members of Congress are compromised. They are the firewall. Trump can literally pull his pants down and shit on the carpet in the Oval Office on video, and they will shield him.

Putin is busy trying to invade the state voting apparatus right now. Trying to help save his key people, the ones he bought and paid for in the U.S. Congress. But he isn't stupid. He has to know that the outrage out here is pointing to a massive defeat for the GOP. How many votes can you steal before people figure it out, right? So what are the next moves in this chess game?

Putin has intervened before. In the past few months if Trump was in trouble he has been given a lifeline. It was subtle but you have to realize a lot of the strategic moves that manage to pull him from the brink of destruction are not shit he thought of on his own. Putin's been very busy with North Korea and some other shit especially Iran, et c. China is not enjoying the intervention of Putin so we have that going for us.

Isn't Drumpf supposed to be getting a physical today?

Patience r460. The poor doctor has a lot of ground to cover.

Did he ever announce his media awards?

No. He tweeted that he was delaying those until the 17th.

[quote]"I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, ” Mr. Trump said in an interview Thursday with The Wall Street Journal.

That's because the whole Trump/Kim Jong Un trading-insults-thing is a stage-show being directed by Russia.

[quote]Putin's been very busy with North Korea and some other shit especially Iran, et c.

Exactly.

Pee-pee

A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

Michael Cohen, who spent nearly a decade as a top attorney at the Trump Organization, arranged payment to the woman, Stephanie Clifford, in October 2016 after her lawyer negotiated the nondisclosure agreement with Mr. Cohen, these people said.

Ms. Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, has privately alleged the encounter with Mr. Trump took place after they met at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, these people said. Mr. Trump married Melania Trump in 2005.

^ deserves own thread

I guess the rain drove Hillary inside.

Yes, Hillary is so important in January 2018.

Nah, the pee pee girls are dead.

Steve Doocy & that Fox & Friends crew are not the brightest propagandists.

R469, They very well may be. Human trafficking figures large among the Russian mob and the Oligarchs. Now here's something to ponder: You have a guy who launders money for Russian mobsters and oligarchs. He has a "modeling agency." He runs an international "beauty contest." He owns hotels apartment buildings, and condo towers. He has his own "security force." How likely is it he might be "aware" of human trafficking, and guys who hire "models" and even blackmail other rich guys by hosting sex parties where the models "network" and meet men who "can help their careers."

Does anyone know the ages of the Pee Pee Hookers?

There is little doubt that Cheetolini has participated in human trafficking of eastern European girls....Many, if not most, of them were underage. If all of Mueller's investigation is made public, I'd bet every cent I have that this is true, r471.

At some point the Cheetolini's involvement in illegal activities, committing actual crimes, becomes so incredible you have to ask how the hell he escaped notice for so long? And he did? Was it Giuliani and the local FBI field office? Rudy was the U.S. attorney before he was mayor. H earned his "bones" by putting Italian mobsters in jail. But now I have to wonder if maybe he did that to help the Russian mobs gain ascendancy.

Will he make it to the State of the Union address? I dread what kind of petulant yammering he will spew out on live TV. He'd cancel that too if he could. It would be "unpresidented", but Trump is a Troll living in the WH... anything can happen, especially since it seems like he's already sick of the duties of the presidency.

For those who think the hacking and attacks are over, this post over at the Balloon Juice blog is scary as hell, summing up the known issues.

Attacks on the Senate:

[quote]The same Russian government-aligned hackers who penetrated the Democratic Party have spent the past few months laying the groundwork for an espionage campaign against the U.S. Senate, a cybersecurity firm said Friday.

Attacks on our infrastructure.

[quote]...Sessions was greeted by an abrupt change in topic from Senator John McCain. “Quietly, the Kremlin has been trying to map the United States telecommunications infrastructure,” McCain announced, and described a series of alarming moves, including Russian spies monitoring the fiber optic network in Kansas and Russia’s creation of “a cyber weapon that can disrupt the United States power grids and telecommunications infrastructure.”

[quote]When McCain asked if Sessions had a strategy to counter Russia’s attacks, Sessions admitted they did not.

More trolling:

[quote]When the employees of the famous “troll factory” in St. Petersburg return to their desks after the Russian holidays, they will be writing comments and posts on social media in much more spacious offices. As the city’s leading business daily Delovoy Peterburg reports in an investigative article published just before New Year, the 4,000 square metres of their previous address on 55, Savushkina Street have been replaced by 12,000 square metres in St Petersburg’s Lakhta business district.

[quote]The impressive threefold increase of work space is testimony to the success of the “factory”. As Russian RBC Daily’s investigation in April 2017 showed, the trolling activities have now branched out into a conglomerate of at least 16 different online outlets, all of which voice strong support for Kremlin’s policies, while systematically linking to each other’s products. At the same time they carry little or no advertisement.

Summing up:

[quote]As I wrote 18 months ago: we are at cyberwar. I was one of the first national security professionals to publicly make that argument based on what was available in open source reporting. Eighteen months later we have actually moved to the point were the cyberwar is just one of the fronts in an elaborate, multi-pronged Russian attack and offensive against the US, our EU and NATO allies, and other liberal democratic states and societies. A formal declaration of war and placing the US on a mobilized for war footing in order to appropriately respond is no longer something to joke about.

More details at the link, ending with: "As I asked eighteen months ago: we are at war, what are we going to do about it?"

We should just ignore all that, r476. It makes President Baby very grouchy during his executive time.

[quote]Donny Two Burgers

Donnie Two Chins.

[quote]It makes President Baby very grouchy during his executive time.

Time to put that Baby in the corner.

Don't know who that is on twitter, but for what it's worth:

Tea Pain‏ @TeaPainUSA

1) BIG NEWS! Remember the whistle blower story that involved Mike Flynn and Alex Copson textin' on Inauguration Day? It involved a bunch of people gettin' rich over a huge deal involving nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia.

2) Today, Mark Lambert, former president of a Maryland-based transportation company was indicted on 11 counts includin' bribery of Vadem Mikerin to secure contracts with TENEX, a subsidiary of ROSATOM.

3) ROSATOM is the Russian nuclear company mentioned as part of a consortium deal that Michael Flynn and Alex Copson texted about that would "make a bunch of people very wealthy."

4) Accordin' to the plan, the US military would supply security for 16 nuclear construction sites in Saudi Arabia using Russian nuclear components, but in order for this deal to go thru, the cripplin' Russian Sanctions must be lifted first.

5) Where this gets really interestin' is that ROSATOM's attorney, Scott Balber, is also the lawyer for Agalarov & Kaveladze who was at Don Jr's Trump tower meeting in June 2016. Balber was also formerly the lawyer for Trump and the Miss Universe organization.

6) Remember those mysterious trips Jared Kushner made to Saudi Arabia that went under-reported? To arrange the US military to provide support would require the cooperation of the Commander-in-Chief, Donald J. Trump.

7) Bob Mueller waived decades of prison sentences for Mike Flynn in exchange for important information. Tea believes we are lookin' at a massive "Quid Pro Quo", one of the drivin' motives for Trump to lift Russian Sanctions.

8) The real beauty of this news is that Maryland has jurisdiction over this case and any subsequent indictments involvin' members of the Trump family are free from any Presidential pardon power. This may be the straw that breaks the Tyrant's back!

9) Lastly, it's no coincidence Trump has tried to fabricate a phony Uranium One story involving Mueller, Hillary and Obama, et al. In true Trumpian fashion, Trump projects his own crimes onto his enemies. Watch this one close, folks. It's gonna be a biggie.

President Baby

Lol

where has that title been all this time

I'm so sick of idiots using twitter to write essays. Why can't they figure out how to write it somewhere where they aren't limited to a certain number of characters and then post a damn link on twitter? As a microcosm representative of current intelligent discourse, it's ridiculously emblematic of what's wrong with our country as a whole. No depth. All surface. Twitter should have called itself, "Ooh Shiny!".

Seth Abramson responds to idiots like R484:

[Quote] If you're a reader of this feed—casual or avid—I need you to know that Twitter isn't my job, that I dislike it, that I don't need or want the attention Twitter brings. I'm in this fight because I think Trump is a clear and present danger to America and history is watching us all.

Thank you R481! this is exactly the kind of investigative work worthy of the DL Butch Sous Chef crime- solvers! Finding and exchanging important information and connecting the dots!!!!! This is why I come here.

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s biggest lender won’t have to give up a part of its business as punishment stemming from a criminal conviction thanks to a temporary reprieve from the administration.

The Labor Department has granted Deutsche Bank a waiver from punishment allowing it to continue to manage retirement accounts for another three years, according to an announcement in the Federal Registry last month. Four other banks convicted in the case were also granted waivers.

16 Nuclear power plants? WTF? In the middle of the sun baked desert?

[quote]8) The real beauty of this news is that Maryland has jurisdiction over this case and any subsequent indictments involvin' members of the Trump family are free from any Presidential pardon power. This may be the straw that breaks the Tyrant's back!

Oh, please, please, please let this be true. I want to see them in a STATE prison.

Here’s another twist on those Maryland based indictments.

Back in 2014, guess who was in charge of this exact case? Rod Rosenstein and Andrew McCabe.

The Trump projection is off the charts. Can we just now take his accusations as admissions of guilt? The fact that Trump paid her off leads me to believe he really did want to win the election. I doubt he thought he could but he wanted to win.

[quote] At some point the Cheetolini's involvement in illegal activities, committing actual crimes, becomes so incredible you have to ask how the hell he escaped notice for so long?

Sadly, it is not that difficult to believe. Law enforcement resources are focused principally (but not exclusively) on violent crime, drugs, and guns. Clearly, there are agents and investigators who look into white-collar crime and prosecutors who bring these bastards to justice -- there just aren't enough of them. While there are millions of transactions and deals occurring every day -- many legal, some not -- federal and state authorities just can't keep up. Obviously, a "one-off" is less likely to attract attention than a longer pattern of criminal behavior. The problem is that criminals who get away with illegality once believe that they can keep going back to that well and that is often when they get caught.

HOLY SHIT R481 !!!!!!

I think that the people who are not following this closely, as we are, are not going to be able to process it when everything comes out.

I hope we’re going to be alright.

[quote] Watch this one close, folks. It's gonna be a biggie.

From your fingers to God's screen, R481, if there's any justice in the world.

I have a theory. It may sound outlandish, but it could fit. Sessions has been an informant to the FBI, now Mueller for many months. His "don't recall" commentaries are part of a cover. He can't admit it as AG, and one who said he recused himself at that.

Lindsey wants to be Secretary of Defense?

Anyone who 180 flipped to endanger the investigation into a conspiracy with the Ruskies to manipulate an election, and protecting the characters there-in; must not be anywhere near the Defense or State Departments. These types need to be out of government, completely.

[quote]I need you to know that Twitter isn't my job, that I dislike it, that I don't need or want the attention Twitter brings. I'm in this fight because I think Trump is a clear and present danger to America and history is watching us all.

Pretty clearly those denigrating SA do so because his tweets are alert, forensic and incisive. It's a vital attentive timeline and marshalling of the scads of obscured leads out there. Naturally trolls and semi-literate deplorables hate and fear his diligence. It'll be a beautiful irony if SA's collected tweets somehow assist in the demise of the incontinent tweeter-in-chief.

[quote]I think that the people who are not following this closely, as we are, are not going to be able to process it when everything comes out.

It's not unlikely that any GOP representatives not financially compromised and with some shred of conscience know exactly what is likely to emerge, but can or will do nothing in advance because they know the depth of colleagues' collusion, and the unprecedented impact it will all have when it breaks. Like having foreknowledge of an earthquake.

It all feels like I’ve been here before, some sort of parallel universe slippage. Does anyone else feel the same way? It’s the feeling that this is even bigger than it appears, and that Trump WILL go down for it. Something inevitable about everything that has happened, including the fact that Hillary Clinton was literally cheated out of an election she legitimately won, by the Kremlin. Awful, inevitable and yet I cannot shake the feeling that there will be great justice in the end.

I hope to God the Twitterer at r481 is legit, cuz that’s promising.

R487, In exchange for .....?

Today is Rod Rosenstein's birthday.

Try adding something to the conversation R484, instead of being an annoying scold.

Obama needed to have addressed the nation before the election and conveyed what the Russians were doing and their goals per the election. He would have been battered for doing so as a political play; but only he could have done it with authority and responsibility, possibly stopping the now results. The media would have been on it bigtime.

Yeah one of my main issues with Obama is that he was too cautious and too considerate. He was too classy.

I agree with R503. One of my big issues with Obama is that they knew this stuff and for some reason he didn't address it. I don't know if the reasons were because they didn't think it was significant, they thought it would cause more damage if they did, or if he was protecting his own legacy.

Obama did try to do things behind the scenes, but he was stymied by Republicans in Congress and in state election commissions. The political blowback would have been fierce if he'd gone directly to the American public after that -- but yes, he should have done it.

R492, I disagree. We're not talking about a criminal enterprise that has only existed for three or four years. We're talking about Sleazy Trump who has been doing wrong since at least 2007....when the first Russian contacts were surfacing. (not when he first made contact...which I believe was in the 90's. (when by his own admission, he was in real big trouble.) So for all that time, why was he not investigated and cases brought and prosecution? I'm not talking about the lawsuits. I'm talking about almost some invisible shield. I have a feeling Giuliani was the guardian angel on his shoulder. Something is not quite right, and even if it wasn't Giuliani, it looks very fishy to me that Trump skated for SO many years. It's almost like he emulated the "Teflon Don" John Gotti, always out here in our faces, writing books, conning people bigger than life, and he was a fucking grifter.People knew. Was he an informant? Did he deliver other people so he could get away with the allegations of sexual assault, the sex parties, the "modeling agency" masquerading human trafficking? Highrollers and monied guys getting blackmailed? Laundering money for mobsters? Someone knew.

He thought HRC was going to win, and it could be addressed then. Undoubtedly he regrets his lack of action now.

Hawaiian nuke text — false flag to distract from Trump infidelity?

He = Obama

Seth Abramson fanboys, why doesn't he just have a website or blog where he writes out everything and then link it from twitter? The 26 part tweet threads are stupid and meant for people who can't pay attention to anything containing actual paragraphs. Like I said, it's indicative of what's continuing to go wrong with out society. It is for people who can only handle snack-sized bits of information and are unable to concentrate for more then a minute and a half at a time. 'Ooh, shiny!' definitely applies.

HOnestly please cease and desist, R511.

R512, it's underinformed idiots that helped get Trump and the Repugs where they are. People who get all their information from endless twitter threads are underinformed idiots. So, I think I'll just seek and resist instead but thanks for the useless and uninformed input.

IF you’re ignoring the substance for the sake of the form in times like these, R513, it is you who are the uninformed idiot.

If you've been paying attention, you'll know hat the charger hugs in CONGRESS have slowly been getting the SEC and IRS.

If they don't have money, they don't have agents to look into this shit. Remember that Harry marcopolos and others went to the SEC at least three different times about Madoff but the SEC didn't have anyone to look into that scam.

Same goes for the IRS -you don't give them the budget, they can't hire agents to delve into these people's shady dealings. Doesn't that Mercer puke owe the IRS a billion dollars in back taxes?

R511, like it or not, Twitter is a large source today for news-sharing. Seth is obviously tailoring his news to fit that particular medium. And there is something kind of satisfying about each tweet in one of his tweet chains being a unit of the much larger story in a building blocks kind of way. So as you go through hem, a narrative build takes hold. It also dorsn’t Hurt that they are well-written and he’s clearly informed about the subject about which he’s writing. He is also able to embed older tweets that relate to the news, further using the Twitter medium to his advantage in reporting.

Why don’t you figure out something else to complain about? Or, better yet, do something to inform the public yourself about what’s happening in our country. Can you write? Why don’t you write an op-ed and send it somewhere.

You sound like a useless, whining idiot.

*thugs in congress *gutting

OMFG, I HATE auto-fill. WTF is wrong with this damned phone?

^^^ Just take a moment to check your work before posting it.

Trey Gowdy just resigned from the Senate Ethics Committee.

Oh my goodness.

But he’s so ethical!

charter hugs for all!

forgive a moment of levity during these trying time.

R519 - Oh dear!

WTF is up that Conehead Gowdy would resign? Him resigning is not going to be the story, it's *why* he resigned.

Is he on any other committees he can fuck up and obstruct on?

r525....could have something to do with the close to 1 million dollars he took from russia for his superpac....it came to light a few weeks ago. Somethings definitely up....thats why Chaffetz made a beeline out of town.

It is the House Ethics Committee, because he is a Congressman, not a Senator.

Trump sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of properties to buyers through anonymous shell corporations last year. Who were the buyers, do ya think?

Trump opened up drilling on ALL coastal lands but then gave an exemption for Florida, coincidentally where Mar A Lago is. Hmmm, wonder why?

Would YOU want to be on the ethics committee? Especially when the Dems take the House later this year and start to investigate the lack of investigations.

He is still chairman of one committee and a member on two others including Judiciary. So don't put on your dancing shoes just yet. If you read his letter of resignation it pretty much explains it.

He is still chairman of one committee and a member on two others including Judiciary. So don't put on your dancing shoes just yet. If you read his letter of resignation it pretty much explains it.

Does Vladimir pay you double for double posts? I really wouldn’t try to game him if I were you.

R529 here. I just wanted to add that the start of a new session of Congress is typically the time when there are a lot of changes. New chairmanships are given out and committee assignments. I'm waiting with baited breath for the announcement that Devin Nunes is no longer chair of Intel. I really want to see him go down. I'd prefer they revoke his Top Secret Security Clearance and and reduce him to a committee member on something boring where he can't get in too much trouble or cause trouble. Do they have a committee that just counts the leaves on the trees around the Lincoln Memorial?

R532, I saw something the other day that explained that the guy who pretty much single-handedly put the Nixon papers into the record was the chair of a small committee in charge of parks or something. He called his committee into session with only him present, and just started reading until he couldn't read anymore in order to get the words on official record. Love it. So, even leaving Nunes in charge of tree counting might still allow him to cause problems. Maybe he'll just get voted out instead.

5/14: Trial date for Manafort and Gates!

You notice Trump's body language lately? The way he folds his arms and seems to hug himself? he's done it before, but he's doing it more often. Like all the time. He's scared.

R535: I believe you're right!

Any congressman can stand there and read something into the Congressional record. They do it every day all the tie. I remember in high school we got to see a session of Congress, and I was SO disappointed because the House of Representatives was empty except for a few people walking around on the Floor and one guy who no one was paying attention to was standing at the podium reading something. Our teacher explained to us that he was putting something in to the Congressional Record.

Like everyone on the news has been saying lately, "You can't make this shit up".

Un-fucking-believable. Except it's not!

[quote]President Donald Trump wash apparently unaware that not all—in fact, the vast majority—of welfare beneficiaries are not black as recently as last March, according to a new report.

Horrible - and outright inaccurate - syntax. Who writes for Newsweek these days?

R537, that's not the case. There are all kinds of rules, especially when they are trying to keep something from becoming public as they were with the Pentagon Papers. Here's the story of what Gravel had to do to get even the parts he could read into the public record. He had to use his Building and Grounds committee chairmanship. So, yes, that would have been the committee to keep track of the trees.

[quote]President Donald Trump wash apparently unaware ...

[quote]Horrible - and outright inaccurate - syntax. Who writes for Newsweek these days?

Apparently it’s Lizsha

[quote] If you're a reader of this feed—casual or avid—I need you to know that Twitter isn't my job, that I dislike it, that I don't need or want the attention Twitter brings.

Hahahaha. Seth Abramson is a man without a shred of self-awareness.

R542 Nobody can beat Baby Drumpf on that score.

R537 here. Thanks for clarifying that, R540. I'd imagine there are certain rules that govern what can be part of the record but I still hope Nunes is removed from chair of Intel, histop secret clearances revoked and they bury him on a committee not as a chair, but a regular member ...counting leaves on trees. : )

I love Seth Abramson!

I also love Seth but more important I love that he is disseminating the truth.

Why does Louise Mensch have it in for Seth Abramson? She's accused him of being pro-Putin but nothing seems to be farther from the truth.

As II listened to NPR I was able to fully appreciate how completely consistent the bastards are. Every single thing they accuse others of, they have done or are doing.

Ignore LM, R548. Her background is far right and Murdoch-related. She throws out some really, really suspect shit to try and undermine certain people's criticism of Trump. Her agenda is so opaque, best to ignore her altogether, IMO.

Kyle Griffin:

Sounds like she's projecting r548. She's bipolar. She's great when she's on her meds but frequently goes off them.

Thanks r551. Griffin seems underrated in general, too cautious maybe.

Kyle is a producer for Lawrence O'Donnell.

A brilliant guy. And very nice.

Thanks for the info about Louise Mensch. I find myself hoping she's on the level with her "sources" (some of the stuff she's written has kinda been born out) but then she writes some out-there shit like her last attack on Seth Abramson. She hates Trump (that I do believe) and uncritically worships the intelligence community/agencies, and she also worships, George W. Bush, so I've wondered how she reconciles that with the Bush administration exposure of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

LM had that one compelling write up about how the whole Anthony Wiener email/sexting with a minor thing was all a setup and that it was something that they (Russia) had been plotting for years. It was so far fetched and at the same time made a whole lot of sense.

Yes r535 and quite tightly. It seems he's feeling insecure. Good, there's bigger and badder days ahead for him.

Angry whitehhouse staffer just tweeted "I know it's been a relatively quiet first of the year on the Trump Russia front.

Buckle up"

God i hope it is some grand jury indictments

If Jared gets arrested tommorow the next thread needs to be titled "He Went to Jareds"

@EWErickson

It’s weird that people in the room don’t remember Trump using that word when Trump himself was calling friends to brag about it afterwards. I spoke to one of those friends. The President thought it would play well with the base.

^ wow

I know a lot of people on this thread are big fans of Malcolm Nance, as am I. But he detests Louise Mensch, despite the fact that they seem to be mostly in agreement if you read their tweets. Does anyone know the back story?

R561 think about it. If she's a Bush fan, and the Bush/Cheney group fucked up intel, outed Plame, went into Iraq under false pretenses, and generally cherry-picked and tried to fuck up intel gathering, a professional like Nance might not have a lot of respect for someone like LM.

I really like Nance. But some times he goes off the rails just a bit. He used to be hot when he was younger. And not that long ago.

r561.....She doesnt like Nance or Jamali........it goes to the fact that she doesnt trust them because Jamali is listed as an operative for Mike Flynns security company. Nance defended him.

Excited for the new thread title soon.

Treasons to be Pretty, Part 9!

Whoops, got the quote wrong.

Treasons to be Cheerful, Part 9.

Loving You for All the Wrong Treasons

[quote] The President thought it would play well with the base.

He's right. His supporters love that shit.

[quote] It’s weird that people in the room don’t remember Trump using that word when Trump himself was calling friends to brag about it afterwards.

Tom Cotton is a hateful, vile, Rethuglican closet case who lies as easily as he breathes, so of course he is going to lie. [I really do wish that someone would out this smarmy little fucker.] David Perdue is just a hateful Repuke who is happy to lie in the service of tRump. They both changed their stories from "we don't remember" to "we now remember, and he didn't say it." Lying liars.

Trump and his cronies will leave behind a legacy of lies.

Link to new thread for when this fills up.

[quote]Excited for the new thread title soon.

Can't recall if these have been used, but have at them.

1) The Four Treasons

2) Rhyme or Treason

3) Treasonal Vegetables

4) Beyond Treasonable Doubt

5) Love Me for A Treason

6) Treasons in the Sun

Trump, Manafort, Ivanka, DonJr, Flynn: a Treasonal Gift Basket

Yeah, we should go back and make a list of which titles have already been used and options for future threads! I'm honestly too lazy to look back.

I like Treasons in The Sun, and of course, Treason of The Witch

Treasons of the Son for when Baby Rump gets Indicted and Treason of the Witch for when Ivanka does!

‘Ours Is not to treason why, ours is but to impeach or die.”

Oh! I like that, r578!

Bravo!

The Treasons of Winter / The Winds of Treason, for us GoT fans who are patiently waiting for the next book to drop. I bet Trump will be wasting away in Rikers before that shit finally gets published.

Thanks, r579!

Link to the new thread.

Would someone please link to the new thread when this one gets closer to maxing out? Thanks!

500 Days of Treason

R561 here. Regarding Malcolm Nance, anybody know his party affiliation? I think he's Republican, (or at least was). So the reason listed about his despising Mensch because of Bush wouldn't make sense. Some of what he's written about her is really nasty. There's gotta be something more behind it.

Be careful with LM. She used to go on right-wing shows and say horrible things about Muslims and immigrants. She worked, and may still work, for Murdoch. She pushed Brexit. England was glad to be rid of her.

Before she scrubbed them all from her Twitter, she also said terrible things about Obama. Now she suddenly loves him since she's courting a left-wing audience. She was also good buddies with Milo. She claimed that Priebus was brought back from Saudi Arabia at gun point, the Marshall of the Supreme Court once went to Air Force One to tell trump he can't use his pardoning abilities and has made other outrageous claims.

She obviously got some tips early about FISA warrants, but god only knows where she's getting this other stuff. She and her buddies also tell everyone not to march and they hate and try to dis-credit the Resistance.

She's now also after Glenn Simpson of Fusion trying to discredit him.

Just be careful when reading her stuff would be my opinion.

If I listened long enough to you

I'd find a way to believe that it's all true

Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cried

Still I look to find a treason to believe

Every time I see a pic of the front entrance to his DC hotel, I do think... shithole.

It looks like The Sloan House YMCA, The Martha Washington Hotel for Women in Valley Of the Dolls, or a by-the-wee flop house on The Bowery!

[quote]Every time I see a pic of the front entrance to his DC hotel, I do think... shithole.

May those with the time ability and wherewithal to project that word hugely on to Trump's most 'prestigious' properties do so. The photos would rightly go viral. The projectors, though necessarily anonymous, would earn the undying gratitude of the sane world.

New thread is at:

I've never heard of Mensch until DL.

r589.....It was already done.......

Blissful, R592, I was late to the shithole party, but that's made my day. Thanks.

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R587, Tim Hardin wrote that song. Not Rod Stewart.