The Trump Investigation(s) Thread

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 7:30 am

It is hard to tell if that is deflection of the sort where they are grabbing onto 'similar' behavior in desperation or if it is Putin pulling strings. That isn't horrifying.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:38 pm

The mysterious 8th person at the DonJr/Kushner/Manafort meeting with the Russians has been identified.

He was Irakly "Ike" Kaveladze, a known money-launderer with previous ties to the Trumps' dealings in Moscow.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:47 pm

That's really strange. What would a known money launderer be doing at this meeting? I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for it all.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:47 pm

Smoove_B wrote:That's really strange. What would a known money launderer be doing at this meeting? I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for it all.

He was interested in adoption? That's what the meeting was about, right? Seems legit.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 2:57 pm

Adoptions aren't cheap!

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 4:33 pm

hepcat wrote:

What law covers CNN question security priority to CNN debates?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 4:47 pm

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:Adoptions aren't cheap!

Especially when you're buying a Czech girl to groom for your next wife after your current one ages out.

Fitzy · Post by **Fitzy** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 5:50 pm

Wait, Donald Trump Jr was adopted from Russia in a money laundering scheme?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 6:01 pm

Oh, hey... turns out Trump and Putin held a second long meeting at the G20, but this one was strictly private: just Trump, Putin, and Putin's personal translator.

President Trump held a second, informal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg earlier this month, according to Ian Bremmer, the president of the international consulting firm Eurasia Group.

The meeting took place during the G-20 heads of state dinner, according to Bremmer, hours after Trump's formal bilateral sit-down with Putin.

In that conversation, Trump spoke with the Russian leader for roughly an hour, joined only by Putin's translator. The meeting had previously gone without mention by the White House.

This is not only dumb diplomacy (something even rudimentary State Department support at the conference should have prevented), but it's against national security protocol.

I'm sure Trump stood up strongly and intelligently for American interests and resisted Putin's influence and absolutely didn't make any secret deals or promises or commit treason or anything.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 6:09 pm

Absolutely fascinating. Not even a hint of shame - I don't care how it looks, I'm doing it anyway.

Speaking of shameless, I am guessing there are going to be more campaign fund raising rallies in the near future.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 7:43 pm

You have to figure that the rest of the G20 leadership had their suspicions confirmed that he is way, way, way over his head. A private conversation in public with the drama he faces over his head. What a fucking moron.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:45 pm

In Trump's defense, I also would only want to talk about my pee tapes in private.

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:52 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Absolutely fascinating. Not even a hint of shame - I don't care how it looks, I'm doing it anyway

https://twitter.com/jasminmuj/status/887447878058352642

As an aside, auhoritarian scholar Twitter is the scariest Twitter.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:04 pm

The WH is pushing back, saying that Trump only "spoke briefly" with Putin.

Witnesses say it was an hour and that other world leaders noticed and were dismayed by it.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:04 pm

There you go.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:13 pm

Holman wrote:The WH is pushing back, saying that Trump only "spoke briefly" with Putin.

Witnesses say it was an hour and that other world leaders noticed and were dismayed by it.

This is a really big lie and they should be ashamed. Everyone knows that "brief" in relation to Trump's kitten-like attention span is what..5 or 6 seconds max? An hour is like an eternity to the man.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:27 pm

When will Trump realize that he needs to bring the press along for his own protection? If there's nothing to see and nothing to hide, let them see and meet in plain view. Or take questions afterwards at a press conference.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:34 pm

Zarathud wrote:When will Trump realize that he needs to bring the press along for his own protection? If there's nothing to see and nothing to hide, let them see and meet in plain view. Or take questions afterwards at a press conference.

He's either the biggest idiot on earth and in way over his head or things are much, much worse than we can possibly imagine.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:34 pm

when there is nothing to hide, of course.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:22 pm

Holman wrote:The mysterious 8th person at the DonJr/Kushner/Manafort meeting with the Russians has been identified.

He was Irakly "Ike" Kaveladze, a known money-launderer with previous ties to the Trumps' dealings in Moscow.

8th is interesting, but I can hardly wait for the unveiling of the 14th! That one is supposed to be quite the shocker!

Hint: it's this guy:

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:45 am

Holman wrote:The WH is pushing back, saying that Trump only "spoke briefly" with Putin.

Witnesses say it was an hour and that other world leaders noticed and were dismayed by it.

Get ready for stage 2: "Ok, it was an hour, but we only talked about adoptions."

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:58 am

Louise Mensch has flown off the handle this morning, saying Bannon and Flynn and Gorka have been Russian agents since 2010, Bannon is looking at the death penalty for espionage and treason, and Trump may be looking at the death penalty too.

And her followers are lapping it up.

What utter insanity in her feed this morning.

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:00 am

pr0ner wrote:Louise Mensch has flown off the handle this morning, saying Bannon and Flynn and Gorka have been Russian agents since 2010, Bannon is looking at the death penalty for espionage and treason, and Trump may be looking at the death penalty too.

And her followers are lapping it up.

What utter insanity in her feed this morning.

I follow her and InfoWars, just to get the crazy from both sides.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:03 am

PLW wrote:
pr0ner wrote:Louise Mensch has flown off the handle this morning, saying Bannon and Flynn and Gorka have been Russian agents since 2010, Bannon is looking at the death penalty for espionage and treason, and Trump may be looking at the death penalty too.

And her followers are lapping it up.

What utter insanity in her feed this morning.
I follow her and InfoWars, just to get the crazy from both sides.

I should probably start doing that to give me some perspective so I don't feel anxiety of the modern 24 hours news cycle.

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:07 am

LordMortis wrote: I should probably start doing that to give me some perspective so I don't feel anxiety of the modern 24 hours news cycle.

It's interesting, they have about the same number of twitter follows (about 300k), but Info Wars seems to have more impact on the mainstream. Maybe b/c of who's in office?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:10 am

Mensch enjoyed a wave of credibility when she made some eerily accurate calls back around February/March (which is when I first heard of her), but she has lost all but the hard core since then.

There are also signs (including TV interviews, as she is a former British MP) that she was an ardent Trump proponent as late as December. It's weird.

She clearly unmoored from reality now. I unfollowed her, but several times lately I've seen her quoted throwing insane accusations around.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:11 am

PLW wrote:
LordMortis wrote: I should probably start doing that to give me some perspective so I don't feel anxiety of the modern 24 hours news cycle.

It's interesting, they have about the same number of twitter follows (about 300k), but Info Wars seems to have more impact on the mainstream. Maybe b/c of who's in office?

Twitter numbers are unreliable. Anyone who wants followers can buy fakes by the thousands.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:16 am

Never heard of Louise Mensch until just now, and I have no idea who she is. Should I keep it that way?

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:18 am

tgb wrote:Never heard of Louise Mensch until just now, and I have no idea who she is. Should I keep it that way?

Yes. Unfortunately a couple people I follow on Twitter retweet things she says then I remember how much of a moonbat she is and get sucked down the rabbit hole for a bit. It's pretty nuts.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:21 am

Claude Taylor must be banging his head on his desk this morning.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:45 am

Smoove_B wrote:
Zarathud wrote:When will Trump realize that he needs to bring the press along for his own protection? If there's nothing to see and nothing to hide, let them see and meet in plain view. Or take questions afterwards at a press conference.
He's either the biggest idiot on earth and in way over his head or things are much, much worse than we can possibly imagine.

Either?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:01 am

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:13 am

A fair point - though I guess I was trying to acknowledge the two general schools of thought on this - willful cooperation vs manipulation. I guess I don't know if it really matters at this point.

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:43 am

Well, this seems ominous

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:47 am

LordMortis wrote:
PLW wrote:
pr0ner wrote:Louise Mensch has flown off the handle this morning, saying Bannon and Flynn and Gorka have been Russian agents since 2010, Bannon is looking at the death penalty for espionage and treason, and Trump may be looking at the death penalty too.

And her followers are lapping it up.

What utter insanity in her feed this morning.
I follow her and InfoWars, just to get the crazy from both sides.
I should probably start doing that to give me some perspective so I don't feel anxiety of the modern 24 hours news cycle.

How does that make any sense? "Well, this person is clearly insane, so I should also listen to another person who is also unconnected to any rational reality."

It's like, man, this apple is rotten, so I should balance my diet by eating this spoiled meat.

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:50 am

El Guapo wrote:It's like, man, this apple is rotten, so I should balance my diet by eating this spoiled meat.

Or, a man with his feet in a freezer and his head in an oven is, on average, quite comfortable.

I use this in teaching undergrad stats to emphasize how means can be deceiving without consideration of variability in the data.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 12:13 pm

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:39 pm

PLW wrote:Well, this seems ominous

I don't see it as ominous. Moreso that he is respecting ethical norms. If you are investigating someone then you shouldn't be socializing with them. That was why Comey was worried about in his case for instance.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:42 pm

Moliere wrote:

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:48 pm

That one made me laugh.