The Trump Investigation(s) Thread

For discussion of religion and politics

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, $iljanus

Post Reply
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41243
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by El Guapo »

coopasonic wrote: Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:39 pm
Carpet_pissr wrote: Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:29 am Just sent this email to Lindsey Graham (who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee):

"I await the "holy hell" you promised if Trump fired Sessions. Please grow a backbone, do your job and confront this growing threat to our democracy and rule of law. "

Graham in July 2017:
“If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay.”

Graham yesterday:
“I look forward to working with President @realDonaldTrump to find a confirmable, worthy successor so that we can start a new chapter at the Department of Justice and deal with both the opportunities and challenges our nation faces,”
A bit late on this, but Sessions wasn't fired, so no Holy Hell. He was asked to resign... *totally* different!
I had a meeting with a couple attorneys from Justice this morning, and one of them said that an office-wide e-mail went out yesterday saying basically, "If you want to wish Sessions farewell while he leaves the office, come to the lobby in 11 minutes". So....apparently neither Sessions nor anyone else at DOJ was given much of a notice about this.
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
coopasonic
Posts: 20966
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:43 pm
Location: Dallas-ish

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by coopasonic »

I know it is a technicality, but it is a technicality that Graham will happily hide behind.
-Coop
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Ralph-Wiggum
Posts: 17449
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:51 am

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Ralph-Wiggum »

And, I think (?), it's a technicality which allows Trump to appoint a temporary AG that doesn't need Senate confirmation. Otherwise, I think Rosenstein would be acting AG?
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
tjg_marantz
Posts: 14688
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:54 pm
Location: Queen City, SK

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by tjg_marantz »

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:And, I think (?), it's a technicality which allows Trump to appoint a temporary AG that doesn't need Senate confirmation. Otherwise, I think Rosenstein would be acting AG?
Even then I don't think that's right.

But I grant you it's complicated and I can't back that up other than with what I've been hearing today.
Home of the Akimbo AWPs
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41243
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by El Guapo »

tjg_marantz wrote: Thu Nov 08, 2018 6:35 pm
Ralph-Wiggum wrote:And, I think (?), it's a technicality which allows Trump to appoint a temporary AG that doesn't need Senate confirmation. Otherwise, I think Rosenstein would be acting AG?
Even then I don't think that's right.

But I grant you it's complicated and I can't back that up other than with what I've been hearing today.
My understanding, when people were talking about Pruitt being moved into the temporary AG role (before he resigned), is that the Vacancies Act allows the President to appoint someone in a temporary role if: (a) the previous office holder resigned (though this requirement is somewhat ambiguous); and (b) the person you are putting in their place is already in a Senate-confirmed position (which Pruitt was, as EPA head).

However, Whitaker was not Senate confirmed in his role as Sessions's Chief of Staff. He was Senate confirmed for a U.S. Attorney role in 2004, but I don't think that the Vacancies Act reaches that far back. And as it happens, Neal Katyal and George Conway (yes, that George Conway) wrote a NYT op-ed today arguing that Whitaker's appointment is unconstitutional.
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
Carpet_pissr
Posts: 19978
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:32 pm
Location: Columbia, SC

The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Carpet_pissr »

coopasonic wrote:I know it is a technicality, but it is a technicality that Graham will happily hide behind.
He won’t even need to. No one in the Republican realm will even go there when interviewing him, and he will just ignore anybody else that does.

Like Trump, he is very much (and almost literally self-admitted) a Senator to only his base in SC, and everyone else can fuck off (i.e. me).

Before his staged Kavanaugh histrionics, the Republicans here did not even really like him.
User avatar
YellowKing
Posts: 30125
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:02 pm

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by YellowKing »

I saw Graham on the news the other day and was struck by how he looks increasingly toad-like as he toadies up to Trump.

And yeah, I know I shouldn't be criticizing people for how they look, but it's a new world. #MAGA
User avatar
hepcat
Posts: 51301
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:02 pm
Location: Chicago, IL Home of the triple homicide!

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by hepcat »

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Nov 08, 2018 3:50 pm
hepcat wrote: Thu Nov 08, 2018 3:47 pm You know something, Rudy's been awful quiet the last month or so. :?
He's been busy:
Rudy Giuliani was in state Supreme Court in New York on Wednesday, where a lawyer for Judith Giuliani claimed the former New York City mayor has spent over $900,000 since April while claiming he has financial difficulties.

Among the expenditures by "America's Mayor" were $12,012 on cigars and $7,131 on fountain pens over a five-month period, Judith Giuliani's lawyer, Bernard Clair, told Justice Michael Katz, according to NBC New York affiliate WNBC.

In that same time frame, Giuliani, 74, also spent over $286,000 on his alleged mistress, $447,938 "for his own enjoyment" and $165,000 on travel for himself, Clair said.

But since his wife filed for divorce earlier this year, Giuliani has claimed his income has dried up, Clair said, mockingly referring to the problem as "sudden income deficit syndrome."
...
Giuliani and his lawyer say he is representing Trump for free, and the court proceeding revealed what he has given up to take on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation: from $4 million to $6 million from his former law firm, Greenberg Traurig, which he left in May.
:lol: That's hilario....wait...that's real! :shock:
Covfefe!
User avatar
Carpet_pissr
Posts: 19978
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:32 pm
Location: Columbia, SC

The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Carpet_pissr »

@YK He would be an absolutely perfect ‘Gríma Wormtongue’ in any future LOTR movies or plays. Perhaps I should have suggested that in my email.
User avatar
Smoove_B
Posts: 54567
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 am
Location: Kaer Morhen

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Smoove_B »

Carpet_pissr wrote: Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:29 am Just sent this email to Lindsey Graham (who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee):

"I await the "holy hell" you promised if Trump fired Sessions. Please grow a backbone, do your job and confront this growing threat to our democracy and rule of law. "
"When was that? What year?

Maybe next year, maybe no go
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63524
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Daehawk »

Look at his stupid face. It is screaming for a bitch slap.

As for Giuliani wouldn't spending money on his mistress be lumped into the "for his own enjoyment" area also?
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
User avatar
LawBeefaroni
Forum Moderator
Posts: 55315
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:08 pm
Location: Urbs in Horto, outrageous taxes on everything

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Just heard an interview where someone was defending the Whitaker pick. One of the points was that "you don't play tight end for the University of Iowa without taking a lot of big hits. And he took lot and got right back up and kept fighting."

While I get that, I can't help thinking that it also means that he, well, has taken a lot of hits. CTE scares me.
" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General
"No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer." -Stigler's Law of Eponymy, discovered by Robert K. Merton

MYT
malchior
Posts: 24794
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by malchior »

El Guapo wrote: Thu Nov 08, 2018 6:40 pm However, Whitaker was not Senate confirmed in his role as Sessions's Chief of Staff. He was Senate confirmed for a U.S. Attorney role in 2004, but I don't think that the Vacancies Act reaches that far back. And as it happens, Neal Katyal and George Conway (yes, that George Conway) wrote a NYT op-ed today arguing that Whitaker's appointment is unconstitutional.
I saw Alberto Gonzales on CNN this morning and he was essentially taking that position too. He called it a 'little strange' which is him being polite but he was solidly against it. He also said without ambiguity that if the ethics lawyers in DOJ say that Whitaker should recuse then he would expect it.

I also saw Maggie Haberman actually saying that several norms were shattered this week by the Trump camp in quick order. The Whitaker nomination, an allusion to the Acosta video 'tampering', etc. It definitely feels like tension is very high in the 'very serious people' camp.
User avatar
YellowKing
Posts: 30125
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:02 pm

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by YellowKing »

Yeah I keep saying the next two years are going to be *more* crazy, not less. Trump's been successful the last two years keeping his enemies at arm's length. Mueller, the powerless Democrats. Now he's in a spot where those chickens are coming home to roost. The tighter the noose, the more insane he's going to get.
User avatar
Smoove_B
Posts: 54567
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 am
Location: Kaer Morhen

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Smoove_B »

Enlarge Image
Maybe next year, maybe no go
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70097
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by LordMortis »

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/09/trump-s ... taker.html

President Donald Trump on Friday said he had not discussed special counsel Robert Mueller's with acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, the man overseeing the inquiry, at least for now.

"I didn't speak to Matt Whitaker about it, I don't know Matt Whitaker," Trump said.
The hell?

We'll see. I fully expect the House to keep it's eye on budgets and allocations of manpower and assets and pray the FOI act will give some visibility to the press. Whitaker is not a shot fired across the bow but he sure has made public statements that has earned the actions under a microscope treatment.

POTUS doesn't need to speak to him when they're telling him what to do and Whitaker is on record as having ideas on how a process is circumvented. (though not openly endorsing the circumvention that I've yet found, no matter what BBSes and Social Media claim without citing)

If POTUS doesn't know Whitaker why would ask for Sessions resignation to make Whitaker the man for now? How is that stable genius?

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... nt.01.html

How does POTUS not know this when the fake news has been pushing this for how long?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... 641682002/

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/09/ ... om&gtm=top
Last edited by LordMortis on Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41243
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by El Guapo »

Weird, Trump usually doesn't get to the "I don't know the guy" phase until *after* they resign in disgrace. Guess he's a step ahead on this one.
Black Lives Matter.
malchior
Posts: 24794
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by malchior »

This guy is going to be regarded as the worst. Moments like this make the case easily. On one hand the President just claimed he handed over one of the most important functions of the Government to a guy he doesn't know. Which he somehow doesn't see as making him look incredibly incompetent. Or that it is so clearly a lying about that. He specifically bypassed the traditional choice for a guy who likely is not eligible for the spot and so happened to run around tv to specifically make himself known to Trump and his ilk. It is even more astonishing because they don't even try to make seemingly reasonable arguments anymore. He just don't give a fuck. Even more brazenly than before.
User avatar
Paingod
Posts: 13132
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:58 am

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Paingod »

malchior wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:10 pmHe specifically bypassed the constitutional choice...
FTFY

I'm inclined to side with the people saying this man is an absolute nobody until he's gotten past the review process as constitutionally required for the position and approved for it by people other than the raging hemorrhoid running the US.

This isn't just another nail in the coffin for an Obstruction charge. This is a stake in the vampire's heart.

Not that it matters to the Senate.
Black Lives Matter

2021-01-20: The first good night's sleep I had in 4 years.
User avatar
Chaz
Posts: 7381
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 7:37 am
Location: Southern NH

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Chaz »

I've been hearing numerous reports that Whittaker has been going to regular meetings in the Oval Office. That by itself is unusual for a cabinet secretary's chief of staff. But now Trump is claiming he didn't know the guy? The guy who was in his office regularly? One assumes that there's records of who was in Oval Office meetings, and that those records would be obtainable.

But I'm sure it'll be the same as all his other "yes, I was in meetings with him or had him run my campaign, but I really don't pay attention to anyone besides myself, so I didn't notice he was there or anything."
I can't imagine, even at my most inebriated, hearing a bouncer offering me an hour with a stripper for only $1,400 and thinking That sounds like a reasonable idea.-Two Sheds
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70097
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by LordMortis »

Chaz wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:38 pm I've been hearing numerous reports that Whittaker has been going to regular meetings in the Oval Office. That by itself is unusual for a cabinet secretary's chief of staff. But now Trump is claiming he didn't know the guy? The guy who was in his office regularly? One assumes that there's records of who was in Oval Office meetings, and that those records would be obtainable.

But I'm sure it'll be the same as all his other "yes, I was in meetings with him or had him run my campaign, but I really don't pay attention to anyone besides myself, so I didn't notice he was there or anything."
Using the google way back machine, I can see Trump has been meeting with Whitaker behind closed doors without Sessions since at least October which is why all the press have his name and history ready to go.

We haven't crossed the Rubicon but lord know we're dipping our toes in to test the waters. I hate this. That our POTUS can blatantly lie to our face day in and day out and that our Senate our either cowards or conspirators and that nearly 50% of the voting populace approves and that there is a full nother 50% of the whole of the voting age populace who don't even care enough to take a couple of hours every other year to do the bare minimum.

... A republic, if you can keep it.... so the saying goes... :(
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Grifman »

Just breaking, the WSJ is reporting that Trump played "a central role" in the Stormy Daniels/McDougal payments, and that prosecutors have evidence of "the president's participation in transactions that violate campaign finance laws".

However, if true, the Republican Senate would never impeach him for it, it would have wait prosecution until after his presidency, IMO.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
LawBeefaroni
Forum Moderator
Posts: 55315
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:08 pm
Location: Urbs in Horto, outrageous taxes on everything

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by LawBeefaroni »

LordMortis wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 1:27 pm
Chaz wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:38 pm I've been hearing numerous reports that Whittaker has been going to regular meetings in the Oval Office. That by itself is unusual for a cabinet secretary's chief of staff. But now Trump is claiming he didn't know the guy? The guy who was in his office regularly? One assumes that there's records of who was in Oval Office meetings, and that those records would be obtainable.

But I'm sure it'll be the same as all his other "yes, I was in meetings with him or had him run my campaign, but I really don't pay attention to anyone besides myself, so I didn't notice he was there or anything."
Using the google way back machine, I can see Trump has been meeting with Whitaker behind closed doors without Sessions since at least October which is why all the press have his name and history ready to go.





"I don't know Matt Whitaker."

29 days earlier: "I know Matt Whitaker."
" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General
"No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer." -Stigler's Law of Eponymy, discovered by Robert K. Merton

MYT
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20331
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Skinypupy »

Grifman wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:35 pm Just breaking, the WSJ is reporting that Trump played "a central role" in the Stormy Daniels/McDougal payments, and that prosecutors have evidence of "the president's participation in transactions that violate campaign finance laws".

However, if true, the Republican Senate would never impeach him for it, it would have wait prosecution until after his presidency, IMO.
Article is here.

In any other administration, this would be a very big deal indeed. In this one? Just another day ending in Y.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
User avatar
Unagi
Posts: 26376
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Unagi »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:57 pm "I don't know Matt Whitaker."
29 days earlier: "I know Matt Whitaker."
Probably lying BOTH times.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70097
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by LordMortis »

Unagi wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 3:05 pm
LawBeefaroni wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:57 pm "I don't know Matt Whitaker."
29 days earlier: "I know Matt Whitaker."
Probably lying BOTH times.
Further Not just the only Riplike change but

but "I didn't talk to talk to Matt Whitaker about that"
vs
"But I never talk about conversations that I had,”
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63524
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Daehawk »

So now that the Dems have some power are they going to try and impeach Trump or do something?
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
User avatar
GreenGoo
Posts: 42239
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:46 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by GreenGoo »

No to the first imo. I don't know what "do something" means to the second.
User avatar
Unagi
Posts: 26376
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Unagi »

Daehawk wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 11:01 am So now that the Dems have some power are they going to try and impeach Trump or do something?
They will launch investigations on some of the things we have been wishing the Republican's had been keeping in check. They have subpoena power. They control (to a degree) what legislation even sees the light of day (although the Senate can also close the shades).
User avatar
Chaz
Posts: 7381
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 7:37 am
Location: Southern NH

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Chaz »

If they can hold their voting bloc together reliably, the Dems can force the Rs to give the Dems at least some of what they want for any legislation that the Rs really want to pass. They can prevent the hard right stuff from coming to the floor in the first place. They can bring bills specifically to force the Rs to go on record as opposing stuff. They can hold hearings, can force people to come testify under oath, though I don't think there's necessarily much they can do after that aside from get things out in public. They can theoretically start impeachment proceedings, but with the makeup of the Senate, unless the tide turns pretty severely for Trump, I don't see them doing it, since it'd be little more than symbolic.
I can't imagine, even at my most inebriated, hearing a bouncer offering me an hour with a stripper for only $1,400 and thinking That sounds like a reasonable idea.-Two Sheds
User avatar
Zarathud
Posts: 16433
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:29 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Zarathud »

Do the Republicans really want any legislation besides another tax cut, immigration, and medicaid cuts? All of which had zero chances. They were back to running for what's left of the ACA.

I think they end up letting Trump dismantle things from within the administration, and blaming the Democrats for his incompetence.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Holman »

Unagi wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 1:49 pm
Daehawk wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 11:01 am So now that the Dems have some power are they going to try and impeach Trump or do something?
They will launch investigations on some of the things we have been wishing the Republican's had been keeping in check. They have subpoena power. They control (to a degree) what legislation even sees the light of day (although the Senate can also close the shades).
Pelosi has been saying that Dems aren't coming in with a vendetta, but that they will instead wait for what Mueller has to report before considering their options.

This is smart politics, especially since (were Mueller's report to fizzle or completely exonerate Trump) a vendetta stance without Special Counel support would burn up a huge amount of political capital.

But I think the expectation (and Pelosi has hinted that she shares this) is that Mueller's findings are going to set things ablaze. The only question is how widely it extends.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Holman »

Zarathud wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:13 pm Do the Republicans really want any legislation besides another tax cut, immigration, and medicaid cuts? All of which had zero chances. They were back to running for what's left of the ACA.
They want judges, tons and tons of judges, which they can get with the senate alone.

Getting judges means upholding voter suppression and cementing permanent minority rule.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
Kraken
Posts: 43688
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 pm
Location: The Hub of the Universe
Contact:

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Kraken »

Holman wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 9:20 pm
Unagi wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 1:49 pm
Daehawk wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 11:01 am So now that the Dems have some power are they going to try and impeach Trump or do something?
They will launch investigations on some of the things we have been wishing the Republican's had been keeping in check. They have subpoena power. They control (to a degree) what legislation even sees the light of day (although the Senate can also close the shades).
Pelosi has been saying that Dems aren't coming in with a vendetta, but that they will instead wait for what Mueller has to report before considering their options.

This is smart politics, especially since (were Mueller's report to fizzle or completely exonerate Trump) a vendetta stance without Special Counel support would burn up a huge amount of political capital.

But I think the expectation (and Pelosi has hinted that she shares this) is that Mueller's findings are going to set things ablaze. The only question is how widely it extends.
Bear in mind that the new D members ran on the whole spectrum from Impeachment Now to Republican Lite. Some prominent progressives lost their races, as did some centrist compromisers. Protecting healthcare is the only issue that was a winner for all of them. That's a narrow mandate coming out of the chute. Caution won't be a winning long-term stance, but it is a smart opening position.
User avatar
Carpet_pissr
Posts: 19978
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:32 pm
Location: Columbia, SC

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Holman wrote:
Zarathud wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:13 pm Do the Republicans really want any legislation besides another tax cut, immigration, and medicaid cuts? All of which had zero chances. They were back to running for what's left of the ACA.
They want judges, tons and tons of judges, which they can get with the senate alone.

Getting judges means upholding voter suppression and cementing permanent minority rule.
They already got two hard right SCOTUS picks, and tons of federal judges below them. Politically I think (and the smart R pols know, and have said) they ‘won’ this round handily. If you watch McConnell’s recent press conference, he seems a completely different person than prior to the midterms.

He sounded like a reasonable person again, even charming (as far as a turtle can be charming of course). Why? He got exactly what he (and the real, behind the scene R leaders I suspect) wanted. That and more. Judges at the highest court, and down through the system.

I think they let Trump do his own populist bs and circus thing and used him when they could, while they did the real work that would have positive implications for the R worldview long after the orange idiot is gone.
User avatar
Sepiche
Posts: 8112
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 12:00 pm
Location: Olathe, KS

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Sepiche »

Tom Daschle & Bill Frist:

Congress made the Starr report public. It shouldn’t hide Mueller’s
President Trump acted quickly to facilitate the exit of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, our former colleague, less than 24 hours after the midterm elections. The appointment as acting attorney general of a longtime critic of Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election has also raised concerns. Capitol Hill is rightfully sending warning signals — from both sides of the aisle — against any attempt to derail the Mueller probe. But beyond strong words, there are actions Congress can take, including oversight and legislation, to ensure the investigation results in a public report. We know from our own experience how important such actions, and such transparency, will be.

We served together in the Senate for a decade, and for a time we served together as leaders of our respective caucuses — sometimes allies, often adversaries, but never enemies. The growing partisan divide then greatly foreshadowed the politics of today.

As it does now, an investigation into the president of the United States split Congress. We disagreed about the merits of that investigation, and whether it should lead to a House impeachment and Senate trial of President Bill Clinton. But when we look back, one issue on which we vigorously agree is this: A rare moment of bipartisanship allowed Congress and the American public to wrestle with the full implications of the investigation and its findings. In 1998, independent counsel Kenneth Starr sent a report to Congress on his investigation, which began as an examination of an Arkansas land deal decades before, and Congress voted 363 to 63 to release those findings to the public that September. This bipartisan act gave the American people a seat at the table.
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Holman »




POTUS wrote:The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation and don’t... // ....care how many lives the ruin. These are Angry People, including the highly conflicted Bob Mueller, who worked for Obama for 8 years. They won’t even look at all of the bad acts and crimes on the other side. A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!
I smell indictments on the wind.

(Incidentally, Mueller worked for GWB for 8 years and then Obama for 4.)
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
Remus West
Posts: 33592
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 5:39 pm
Location: Not in Westland

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Remus West »

Correct me if I am wrong but they don't have the mandate/authority to examine the "bad acts and crimes" on the other side.
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” - H.L. Mencken
User avatar
Max Peck
Posts: 13680
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:09 pm
Location: Down the Rabbit-Hole

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Max Peck »

There has never been a better time to be alive, if your bucket list includes seeing textbook examples of psychological projection on a daily basis.
"What? What? What?" -- The 14th Doctor

It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
User avatar
Zaxxon
Forum Moderator
Posts: 28118
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:11 am
Location: Surrounded by Mountains

Re: The Trump Investigation Thread

Post by Zaxxon »

Remus West wrote:Correct me if I am wrong but they don't have the mandate/authority to examine the "bad acts and crimes" on the other side.
Don't go bringing rational thought into this.
Post Reply