First Trump’s staff, then government officials, then the military… 1930s pump priming
Like the urban legend of the choking dog with the thief’s fingers lodged in his throat, God-Emperor Trump has Heimliched himself with his usual(sic) lies.
We now reached the beginning of a foreseeable end to the long national nightmare, if only the check and balances of a sane democracy can reclaim some vestige of stability from Lord Dampnut.
Personal fealty and abusing power are not features of a modern democracy. Trump’s hubris has apparently triumphed. King Leer must step down.
Trump’s NBC interview confessed to dangling the FBI job Comey wants to retain as the carrot for assurance Comey won’t target him re Russiaâ¼ï¸Â
This is interesting from Harvard Law’s @tribelaw. POTUS created opening for Congress to get details on his private convos with Comey. https://t.co/yocA5WDZHo
â Jessica Yellin (@JessicaYellin) May 12, 2017
Absolutely. Trump now can’t invoke exec priv to stop Comey from testifying in Cong or a court to what he & Trump actually said to each other https://t.co/LDlM5A9GeC
We cannot now trust any of Trump’s GOP enablers to save our Democracy. 2018 must sweep the sickness from the White House.
Even as other narcissists like Ted Cruz found their own, more doctrinaire conservatism attractive to the second-most number of 2016 RNC delegates, conventional RWNJs lost to the reality television celebrity because Trump had a less complicated, reactionary message.
Despite the ability to create a perfect storm of media disruption and terrible Democratic campaign tactics the election was won by a simplistic and absolute conservative ideology which now must be driven back into the sea by Congress and the Courts.
NEW: I appeal to the Intel Agencies of the world. Trump has enacted a coup. We need what you have on him pic.twitter.com/E0KbP8TUul
â Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 12, 2017
One senior White House official recently outlined the three rules of Trump for a group of reporters:
When you’re right, you fight.
Controversy elevates message.
And never apologize.
All of these rules have survived his time in office, if in slightly more modest forms. After bringing new levels of combativeness to the political process, “the only way you survive is to be combative,” Trump says now.
“I’ll read stories in the New York Times that are so one-sided. Hey, I know when I am successful. I know victory.”…
When asked directly if he feels his Administration has been too combative, he makes a brief allowance.
“It could be my fault,” he says. “I don’t want to necessarily blame, but there’s a great meanness out there that I’m surprised at.”
European folk tale about a clumsy burglar who injures his own hand while breaking into a house. His intrusion is revealed by the discovery of one or more severed fingers www.snopes.com/…
Is this real introspection or just more performance for his guests? The answer isn’t long in coming.
Within a day of the plates being cleared away, Trump takes to Twitter to attack “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer,” the Democratic Senate leader.
He belittles Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal for once misrepresenting his military service—“he cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness.”
No truce is around the corner. President Trump fights on.
Russia must be laughing up their sleeves watching as the U.S. tears itself apart over a Democrat EXCUSE for losing the election.
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2017
To understand the potential political and legal time bombs that might be out there, consider the following: Every time we read a public name of a Russian individual who had some contact with anyone associated with Trump, from Russian government officials or shady characters with ties to Russian intelligence, there is an above-average probability that their conversations were recorded and emails were monitored.
When “Russian A” talked to “Russian B” about “Trump associate C”, if that conversation was recorded, it would reveal information about what Trump associate C was saying or doing.
Similarly, when Russian A (who was under surveillance) talked directly to Trump associate C (who was not), that conversation was recorded incidental to the eavesdropping on the Russian.
If that conversation revealed that there was probable cause that the Trump associate was engaging in some form of wrongdoing, there could have been a warrant approved to eavesdrop on that Trump associate directly.
Let’s take one publicly known example: It appears from public sources that when retired General Michael Flynn talked with the Russian ambassador, some or all of those conversations were recorded. We do not know exactly what was said, but the tapes will tell the story. How, if at all, was President Trump mentioned?
As a matter of math, infinitely more evidence Comey fired for Russia investigation (some) than there is evidence Trump was wiretapped (zero) https://t.co/Fsx9uiAcjA
â Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) May 12, 2017
Major Duties and Requirements: Must not have “something wrong” with you.
Must be a self-starter (who knows when to self-stop) and quick learner (who doesn’t want to learn too much about certain things).
Must continue to lead the federal investigation into reports of Russian meddling into the presidential election process, allegedly by hacking into the Democratic National Committee email and the personal account of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
Must continue to lead investigation into possible collusion between certain campaign officials and Russians, although the President who used to employ these campaign officials thinks the whole thing is “phony.”
Must be open to being regarded with deep suspicion by the President’s mounting list of political opponents…
Did he “tapp” Comey?
James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
this tweet another possible trump crime: 18 USC 1512, witness intimidation. comey witness 2trump’s possible obstruction by demanding loyalty https://t.co/qCUT7AseoA
Comey has declined an invitation to testify at the present time. Not even in a closed door hearing. That is probably smart. He will, of course, appear if subpoenaed. That is a tactic I have used myself. Do not appear voluntarily, because that gives the appearance of being too eager or possibly biased. Witnesses must appear if a subpoena is issued. Comey is a lot of things. Clueless is not one of them.
This morning, reports are saying Comey will accept the invitation under the condition the hearing is public. Seems like a good idea. That way the public and news media can see for themselves. Closed door hearings are subject to partisan spin.
Good thinking on the part of Comey and whoever is advising him. See the tweets by Lynay Erickson and Archon that I posted in the thread below.
The announcement by the Duke of Edinburgh (tough cookie, served on an RN destroyer in the Pacific in 1945) of his withdrawal from public engagements has nothing to do with the thought of having to travel down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, in the golden State Coach with the Teflon Don. Well, maybe…………
Her Majesty the Queen (who was then Princess Elizabeth) spent more time in Army uniform, serving in combat conditions, than the Occupant’s entire family combined. And that is going back as far as I could track them, which was three generations. She drove Army trucks/lorries transporting supplies. Risking getting strafed by German fighters and fighter bombers on every trip.
The Queen is a genteel lady, for whom decorum matters. Her diplomatic skills and combat experience will be tested to the max if she has to deal directly with the Thing from the White House.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a sniper-scout for the Hagana. That was the predecessor of the Israeli Defense Force. She may be only 4’7″ tall, but with a sniper rifle and satchel of grenades, she was a giant. She was blown up in an explosion and it took a long time for her to regain the ability to walk.
The misogynistic draft-dodging Occupant and his spawn could not find a tall enough stepladder to climb in order to shine either of those women’s combat boots.
Yup. The Occupant may come to regret firing Preet Bharara. His replacement at the SDNY is now Acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim, who has a reputation for being a formidable prosecutor. The investigation is proceeding without missing a beat. Here is the latest from his office.
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that the United States has settled a money laundering and civil forfeiture action against assets of 11 corporations, including some that own luxury residential and high-end commercial real estate in Manhattan. The Government’s complaint alleged that the defendant corporations laundered some proceeds of a $230 million Russian tax refund fraud scheme involving corrupt Russian officials that was uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in pretrial detention in Moscow under suspicious circumstances and was posthumously prosecuted by Russia.
In the total scheme of things, that is not a truly huge settlement. Makes one go hmmmmm… Now that the matter of that case is settled, certain individual defendants have immunity and can be forced to testify in, let’s say, other more interesting cases.
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Comey has declined an invitation to testify at the present time. Not even in a closed door hearing. That is probably smart. He will, of course, appear if subpoenaed. That is a tactic I have used myself. Do not appear voluntarily, because that gives the appearance of being too eager or possibly biased. Witnesses must appear if a subpoena is issued. Comey is a lot of things. Clueless is not one of them.
agreed, there are a lot more ducks to get in a row with all those grand juries and indictments
This morning, reports are saying Comey will accept the invitation under the condition the hearing is public. Seems like a good idea. That way the public and news media can see for themselves. Closed door hearings are subject to partisan spin.
Good thinking on the part of Comey and whoever is advising him. See the tweets by Lynay Erickson and Archon that I posted in the thread below.
The announcement by the Duke of Edinburgh (tough cookie, served on an RN destroyer in the Pacific in 1945) of his withdrawal from public engagements has nothing to do with the thought of having to travel down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, in the golden State Coach with the Teflon Don. Well, maybe…………
Her Majesty the Queen (who was then Princess Elizabeth) spent more time in Army uniform, serving in combat conditions, than the Occupant’s entire family combined. And that is going back as far as I could track them, which was three generations. She drove Army trucks/lorries transporting supplies. Risking getting strafed by German fighters and fighter bombers on every trip.
The Queen is a genteel lady, for whom decorum matters. Her diplomatic skills and combat experience will be tested to the max if she has to deal directly with the Thing from the White House.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a sniper-scout for the Hagana. That was the predecessor of the Israeli Defense Force. She may be only 4’7″ tall, but with a sniper rifle and satchel of grenades, she was a giant. She was blown up in an explosion and it took a long time for her to regain the ability to walk.
The misogynistic draft-dodging Occupant and his spawn could not find a tall enough stepladder to climb in order to shine either of those women’s combat boots.
“Every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought.” – Sun Tzu
“One must pick one’s allies carefully, their enemies doubly so.” – Buddha Is Laughing
Yup. The Occupant may come to regret firing Preet Bharara. His replacement at the SDNY is now Acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim, who has a reputation for being a formidable prosecutor. The investigation is proceeding without missing a beat. Here is the latest from his office.
In the total scheme of things, that is not a truly huge settlement. Makes one go hmmmmm… Now that the matter of that case is settled, certain individual defendants have immunity and can be forced to testify in, let’s say, other more interesting cases.
Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/acting-manhattan-us-attorney-announces-59-million-settlement-civil-money-laundering-and