“I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authorities and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter,” [Deputy Attorney General Rod J.] Rosenstein said in a statement. “My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination.”Mueller was the FBI director just before Comey. He began as FBI director on September 4, 2001, that is, immediately before 9/11. He was appointed by George W. Bush and not only continued under Obama, but was asked to stay on an extra 2 years beyond the normal 10 year term.
ADDED: I see no reason not to say this is the perfect move.
AND: NBC reports:
Former Trump aides Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort have emerged as key figures in the FBI's investigation into Russian campaign interference....ALSO: This is useful: "The Comey memo offers no proof for impeachment of Trump."
Officials say multiple grand jury subpoenas and records requests have been issued in connection with the two men during the past six months in the ongoing probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian attempts to influence the election, an inquiry that will now be overseen by former FBI Director Robert Mueller....
Posts
288 comments:
1 – 200 of 288 Newer› Newest»Nice. Take it completely away from McCabe and the obambi minions. Further, he's a consummate professional investigator who has integrity.
It was inevitable once McCain and a few other GOPe creatures fell in line.
I hope Mueller can stay out of politics. I don't see how.
Crap. This "special counsel" crap always goes wrong, ranging far afield, takes forever, and absolutely has to end in a scalp. Any scalp, as the unfortunate Scooter Libby learned. I thought Trump was going to NOT play by the Stupid Party Playbook. The only conceivable saving grace is if Mueller decides that he's going to look at all campaign contacts with Russia and state secrets -- like Hillary's.
Well, this will now go on forever, giving the Inga's of the world free license to spin their fantasies.
So is he investigating what exactly? If it is the leaks and actual law breaking then this will be a merry ride. I will enjoy the Rice/Jarett/Obama depositions. This is a dangerous game the democrats have started.
It is on the republican party now. They should get serious and start playing hardball with the left. But if the republicans cave to the oligarchs are try to remove Trump?
War.
By sunset tomorrow expect Dems to be in unison saying Mueller need to subpoena Trump's tax returns.
Michael K: "It was inevitable once McCain and a few other GOPe creatures fell in line."
It was inevitable as it has become clear that the obama-ites in the FBI and Justice Dept have become open leakers knowing there would be no investigation into those leaks by the deep state leftists.
The special counsel being former FBI director Robert Mueller changes the historic special counsel dynamic.
This better wrap up before the end of this year.
Good, finally!
I trust Mueller to not stray far afield, but this investigation needs to be broad enough to cover both campaign's ties to Russia. I predict that it will and that Democrats are not going to be pleased by it either.
The sooner the investigation is over and it's results released to the public, the better.
Paul Ryan talks family values in defense of Majority leader's observation that Putin paid Trump last year. Reps would do well to act proactively, but they won't. Serious mistakes, bungling ahead. (more of the same)
Now let's see who Trump appoints as FBI Director knowing a highly respected predecessor has been made special counsel. Of the four candidates who met with Trump, 2 served and rose under Mueller. The other two are politicians in their seventies (as is Mueller).
And I predict the investigation will be over by the end of Fall, that no charges will be brought against anyone in the Trump Administration, and that Inga will go apeshit over the result.
Now that Mueller's on the trail, let's have Congress get back to their job.
What is Mueller going to investigate?
I see nothing in that NYT squib to say who the perp might be, what the crime might be, or what's the bother about.
This would be a useful exercise, at taxpayer expense, if we first had some idea what the hell the guy's doing.
It won't take Mueller all that long because I am pretty sure the FBI had already done most of the investigating that could be done at this point. Mostly Mueller will be be sifting through that evidence such as any exists.
Rosenstein should've just hired Yancy Ward, as he appears to know it all, lol.
There's the possibility that the Dems will flip on Mueller the way they did on Comey.
We'll see how it plays out, but this seems fair and reasonable. There should be some kind of expiration date. These damn things go on forever and never seem to reach any kind of conclusive end.
The Deputy AG's order lays out the scope of the investigation. It' won't include unrelated allegations against Democrats.
I remember when Teddy Kennedy was openly engaging the Russians to help throw an election, but now any scent of Russian involvement requires a special investigator. It's almost like Teddy got away with murder.
Blogger Yancey Ward said...
And I predict the investigation will be over by the end of Fall, that no charges will be brought against anyone in the Trump Administration, and that Inga will go apeshit over the result.
Inga will be certain that the evidence that does not exist proves Trump is guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt.
"And I predict the investigation will be over by the end of Fall, ... and that Inga will go apeshit over the result."
I'm not taking that bet.
Will Mueller investigate the deal struck by Obama to grant an early release for Russian agent Chelsea Manning?
"The Deputy AG's order lays out the scope of the investigation. It' won't include unrelated allegations against Democrats."
They were so hoping it would.
Hmm. Perhaps "Russian asset" is the more accurate term.
The real test for Mueller will be whether or not he can get the leftists in the FBI and Justice to cease illegal leaking.
Unlike Comey/McCabe, something tells me Mueller will pursue leaks aggressively given his history and integrity.
If, however, the wholesale and massive leaking by the leftists continues then we will know the fix on the left is in place.
Bob Ellison said...
"What is Mueller going to investigate?"
The nature of the reporting on the Russian Conspiracy has always been of this type: "Anonymous sources say unknown parties in law enforcement are investigating the ties of unknown people in the Trump Campaign to unknown parties in the Russian government." What you have never seen are any actual specific details, like actual people with described actions, in any of the leaks. The most solid detail of all was Flynn's call to the Russian ambassador after the election, the transcript of which was perfectly innocuous from both a legal and strategic point of view, and Flynn isn't even in the administration having been let go.
Outside of that, the single biggest connection between a candidate in 2016 and the Russian government was the Uranium One deal, and that connection was to Clinton, not Trump, and had her involvement as an actual government employee at one point.
Seriously, in a world where it appears there are enough leaks to fill an ocean, you would have expected truly incriminating details about the investigation to this point to have surfaced, but they haven't, and the easiest explanation for that is that there isn't anything to the conspiracy in the first place.
If Democrats believe the investigation has been obstructed, they need to bring perjury charges against McCabe.
"Leaking by the leftists", lol. Who leaked that Trump gave highly classified Israeli Intel to Russia? Who was in that meeting? I doubt they were "leftists".
Ann; I completely agree with you. It's time to get the investigation out of the hands of the politicians and let it go where it will. I am happy to see Rosenstein take firm control of his responsibilities. Keeping control at the DOJ is a good thing. I suspect that a side effect of this investigation will be to turn up some of the leakers in the various intelligence agencies. I am not particularly worried that Trump will be caught in some kind of conspiratorial web. I anticipate that some of the fringe players will be convicted of criminal stupidity - and that includes Flynn - but not much else.
We have spent a year chasing phantom Russians but can't charge people with a crime who destroy subpoenaed evidence. The rule of law is on the death bed.
"Seriously, in a world where it appears there are enough leaks to fill an ocean, you would have expected truly incriminating details about the investigation to this point to have surfaced, but they haven't, and the easiest explanation for that is that there isn't anything to the conspiracy in the first place."
Way too simplistic, know it all. Leaked info was probably strategically chosen to be leaked. It wouldn't be beneficial to the investigation to leak the most incrimininating stuff.
Inga, you know that report is contested and unproven, right? Trump shared information, someone leaked the possible source to the news, the source was allegedly never revealed in the meeting.
Inga,
The WaPo source was not at the meeting. Every member of the administration that was present at the meeting have denied the story publicly. If you believe WaPo had a source at all, then it wasn't any of the Russians at the meeting either. This, by elimination, leaves only someone in the intelligence agencies who was not at the meeting, and it is most probable this person isn't a Republican either, though not impossible.
Inga: ""Leaking by the leftists", lol. Who leaked that Trump gave highly classified Israeli Intel to Russia? Who was in that meeting? I doubt they were "leftists".
It has already been reported that the principles created synopses of the discussions and shared within their respective staffs which still contain significant numbers of Obama appointees and holdovers.
If you can't keep up you have no one to blame but yourself.
"I see no reason not to say this is the perfect move."
It depends on what your objective is. For those with the objective to depose Trump, it is not the right move. Their interest is chaos. A well run credible and focused investigation will dampen the chaos.
It also depends on what the scope of Mueller's authority is. There are many aspects of this case that may or may not be related to the "Russia Investigation." Does he have the authority to find out where the DNC and Clinton server hacks came from? Who killed that poor young DNC staffer? If he has that authority, does he have the resources? (Can he trust investigations done by CIA or FBI?) Will he investigate Comey? Will the FBI and CIA cooperate or "resist."
One of the nightmare scenarios of the Left over the years has been the notion that the CIA, FBI and military could all or separately conspire to subvert or overthrow the proper function of civil authority. Now this might actually be happening. But if it is happening, the target is a President that the Left detests, so they are not nearly as concerned about the nefarious spooks and soldiers.
It's time for everybody to grow up. I do not expect such from the extremes of either side, but the center has to stand up for accountability, serious analysis and order. We will find out, among other things, where the center really resides in America.
For it to be a perfect move Mueller needs to have the opportunity to examine ties between the Clinton campaign and Russia. Let's see where the truth really lies.
Almost as interesting as who gets hired as FBI director after this is who gets fired next over this.
There you go Trumpski's ...
Trump is a con-man and most likely a criminal.
Russia, Russia, Russia.
Trump is going down, down, down.
Special Counsel on top of the multiple subpoenas already out there. Warrants against Trump associates in the works.
Inga said, "Way too simplistic, know it all. Leaked info was probably strategically chosen to be leaked. It wouldn't be beneficial to the investigation to leak the most incrimininating stuff."
That's pretty weird typing. What's your angle? Is this Mark Felt, rising from the dead, leaking just the slightly bad stuff before leaking the really bad stuff?
You don't want special counsels. They develop their own manias and somebody is absolutely going down, usually a bystander.
From Rosenstein's appointment letter to Mueller
"'The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the investigation con nned by then-FBI Director James 8. Comey in testimony be re the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017, including:
(i) any links an or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and
(ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and
(iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a).
(c) If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is
authorized to prosecute deral crimes arising om the investigation of these matters.
Pretty broad brush, Inga. If the Dems turn up in the investigation they will not be ignored. I would only give a small sigh of relief right now if I were you.
" Leaked info was probably strategically chosen to be leaked. It wouldn't be beneficial to the investigation to leak the most incrimininating stuff."
... You realize there are people calling for the VIOLENT over throw of Trump, some of whom work within the government? Their #1 goal is to stop Trump, with bullets if needed.
If you honestly think that they're playing tiddlywinks while they think the world is burning and Trump is methodically exterminating homosexuals, Muslims and non-Trumpists, then you must think they are incompetent and evil.
This will not be enough for the left. They will demand an independent special prosecutor with a separate office and staff. The important thing will be to start again from the very beginning to make sure that the investigation goes on for as long as possible.
If Mueller just serves as special counsel to oversee the ongoing FBI investigation, then nothing will change, except that he will be a firewall between the executive and the investigators, who will be able to look to him rather than a US attorney. To the extent their investigation has already run its course, they might follow it to its conclusion and close it, with or without any prosecutions. The left cannot allow this to happen.
"If the Dems turn up in the investigation they will not be ignored."
-- That's a ridiculous thing to assume seeing as they literally took hammers to subpoenaed evidence and walked.
Seriously: On what grounds should I assume this investigation is being done legally or ethically?
Everything flows from unnecessary recusal by Sessions based off the mischaracterized gotcha exchange with Al Franken.
The floodgates have opened.
Everyone is saying Mueller has bi-partisan credentials.
So did Comey, until he offended the Queen.
I can imagine a scenario in which an investigation into Flynn leads into an investigation of obstruction of the investigation into Flynn. Can't picture how the investigation stumbles into an investigation of the Clinton campaign. The rest of the Justice Department if free to conduct that investigation any time it wants.
If I were Mueller, I'd give a speech right now:
"I am on this investigation contingent on not a single leak happening. The investigation, such as it is, has been compromised by those with political axes to grind. This is the first, and last warning, that we will proceed as a professional outlet, or I will walk."
This is not a perfect move. It's an admission of guilt before any accusation has been made.
Inga, the only purpose in leaking is to sway public opinion against Trump. Literally the best way to that is to leak the most incriminating stuff you have. The investigation isn't hamstrung by leaking such information- if anything it would make an investigation more likely to be successful if such leaks were detailed and truthful. That we haven't seen such detailed leaks strongly suggests that there aren't any to leak- you would have to go out on a limb and fabricate them.
I suggested yesterday that one pay attention to the Seth Rich story from FoxNews because it contained exactly that level of detail. It doesn't mean the details were accurate- that remains to be demonstrated- but is does mean that the source for the story took it to next level by revealing a significant truth about the story or decided to go for broke and completely fabricated the details out of whole cloth.
The difference is the reputational price paid for being caught out wrong on the reporting of vague innuendo and being wrong on such very specific details. This is why everyone never seems to remember all the wrong stories published since the election like, for example, the story about Rosenstein threatening to resign last week, or about Comey requesting more funds for the investigation. Also, like a week from now when no one will be talking about Trump betraying the Israelis by outing their agent- everyone in the fucking room has put their name to the denial of the WaPo story which rests solely on an anonymous source who is the one who appears to have actually revealed to the world it was Mossad, not Trump.
"Can't picture how the investigation stumbles into an investigation of the Clinton campaign."
Let's start with the DNC handing over the hacked servers.
"Can't picture how the investigation stumbles into an investigation of the Clinton campaign."
-- Wouldn't matter. Clinton staff can lie about handing over all of your devices with relevant emails and not get punished, while Flynn having a perfectly legal and above board conversation has his privacy broken and illegally leaked to the press and illegally unmasked by political operatives and he gets punished.
The system is broken.
News report:
DOJ spox says White House’s Counsel’s Office was informed of the appointment of special counsel after order was signed this afternoon.
Ouch.
Readering,
The DNC's servers will have to be subpoenaed if it hasn't already happened- remember, the start to this story was the alleged hacking of the DNC's servers by the Russian government. In fact, I don't see how you even do an investigation without ascertaining the truthfulness of that original claim. One of the reasons I think Mueller will wrap this up quickly is that the DoJ appears to never have requested such a subpoena, and the only reason you would fail to do so is because you had alreadly quickly determined there was nothing to investigate in the first place.
However, if the DNC is force to cooperate, then we might also learn whether or not Seth Rich or another DNC employee really was Wikileak's source. That also would be pertinent to the investigation. There is a lot of this that I would expect to backfire badly on the Democrats if Mueller is halfway competent.
"I see no reason not to say this is the perfect move."
We accountants call this negative assurance, i.e., "we found nothing to indicate that these statements were not prepared according to generally accepted accounting principles."
That statement always makes our clients feel good.
I dont give a shit if they hang him. Hillary will still not be President and a grateful nation will continue to breate easier.
SJWs should note that Pense wont force the cake baking.
"No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly."
Off the top of my head:
o Socrates was forced to drink hemlock
o Julius Caesar was stabbed in the Roman Senate
o 500 Pennsylvania farmers took up guns and shot at George Washington for Hamilton's Whiskey Tax
o James Madison was attacked by 4500 British troops, which burned the Capitol and the White House
o In the same war, Andrew Jackson, the current President's favorite, defended New Orleans from 8000 British troops
o While president, Jackson was shot by a lunatic who wanted banking reform
o Lincoln, shot in the head by a secessionist
o Garfield, shot in the chest by a member of the opposition Republican party
o McKinley, shot twice by a lunatic
o Teddy Roosevelt, shot by a lunatic
o Franklin Roosevelt, shot by a lunatic
o Kennedy, shot by a lunatic
o Ford, shot on two separate occasions by a lunatic
o Reagan, shot by a lunatic
o and a recent president hounded by a reality TV show host about his origins and any other foolish things that popped into his head
Since we're doing predictions, I predict that the DNC servers will have been found to be wiped.
Like, with a cloth?
"Since we're doing predictions, I predict that the DNC servers will have been found to be wiped."
-- They essentially have been, as far as they are useful evidence, since CrowdStrike or whoever did who knows what to them, and they have not been properly monitored.
Okay, let's suppose that the Russians did 1) hack into the DNC server & 2) they fed intel acquired by that & other means to the Trump administration.
Is this a crime? If so, is it a serious crime, in legal terms?
The DNC is not a governmental organization. It is not covered by any rules of federally mandated secrecy. It is, organizationally, simply another non-profit, like e.g. the Red Cross. Now, it's probably against the law to hack the Red Cross, but, good luck in getting any law enforcement agency in the country to name foreigners in a legal action against hackers without major damge done, financially or otherwise. It's pointless. Even if the hackers resided in a country with an extradition treaty with the US, who was hurt, & how much? Hillary? As has been said by David Axelrod, did the Russians make her not put any resources into Michigan? Who's gonna make a convincing case that harm was actually done?
There are federal laws against foreigners of any type, Russian or not, giving money to American candidates. But, what about useful information? Is that illegal? Foreign ambassadors in the US have the right of free speech, too. If they think HRC was a putz & preferred Trump, can't an ambassador say that to either or both candidates? I just don't see what can be done to stop ambassadorial staff from meeting a candidate's staffer at a bar for drinks & the ambassadorial staffer saying "Do you know what I just heard...?".
Even if there was a connection between Trump & the Russians, which I very much doubt, it may be unsavory, but it almost certainly wasn't illegal.
Seth Rich. Ok.
This "special counsel" crap always goes wrong, ranging far afield, takes forever, and absolutely has to end in a scalp. Any scalp, as the unfortunate Scooter Libby learned.
And who appointed that special counsel that knew early on -- if not at the time of appointment -- who divulged the Valerie Plame info and that there was no substantive crime?? The very same James Comey.
o Franklin Roosevelt, shot at by a lunatic. Cermak took the bullet.
o Kennedy shot by a Leftist.
Fixed it for you.
@OM,
Since we're doing predictions, I predict that the DNC servers will have been found to be wiped.
Standard operation procedure in cases of computer systems that have been compromised is to 1) completely rebuild from a known good backup. If a the time of penetration cannot be accurately assessed, & thus a backup cannot be guaranteed to have not been compromised as well (like in this case), the system is re-built from scratch from installation media.
If law enforcement had told the DNC, "Hey, save those servers! We're trying to get a supoena!", then the DNC would be under some compunction to not wipe the servers. The Obama DoJ & FBI made no such request.
Those servers have not only been wiped, they've probably got forensically wiped.
EL: "o Lincoln, shot in the head by a secessionist
o Garfield, shot in the chest by a member of the opposition Republican party"
LOL
Gee, take a good look at these two lines side by side and tell me what differences you might note.
tcrosse, while you're making fixes, Ford was not shot. In one case the gun (at practically point blank range) failed to go off and in the other the would-be assassin was intercepted before getting off a shot. Lucky guy.
"If law enforcement had told the DNC, "Hey, save those servers! We're trying to get a supoena!", then the DNC would be under some compunction to not wipe the servers. The Obama DoJ & FBI made no such request."
Even if they had, the servers would still have been wiped. The Benghazi Committee sent a preservation request for Hillary's server. Subsequenty, Platte River Bleach-Bitted the thing. Nothing happened to anybody.
I hate to break it to the people here who are hoping for an investigation into the DNC hacking, but that already happened.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/312132-fbi-dhs-release-report-on-russia-hacking
"The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday released a joint report detailing how federal investigators linked the Russian government to hacks of Democratic Party organizations.
The document makes clear reference to the hacks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, though it does not mention either by name.
The 13-page report provides technical details regarding tools and infrastructure used by Russian civilian and military intelligence services to “compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. Government, political, and private sector entities.”
"The DHS statement is a restatement of already known public information, a series of technical indicators that are intended for use by cybersecurity professionals in finding and remediating APT28 malware on private sector networks, and some generic advice for companies as to how to improve their network security," said Matt Tait, founder of the U.K.-based security consultancy Capital Alpha Security.
APT28 refers to one of the hacking groups affiliated with Russian intelligence believed to have infiltrated the DNC.
The U.S. report, known as a “Joint Analysis Report” or JAR, refers to the Russian hacking campaign as “Grizzly Steppe.”
It comes as part of a slate of retaliatory measures against Russia issued Thursday by the Obama administration in response to the hacks, and expands on a joint statement issued by the two agencies in October, formally attributing the attacks to Russia.
In the October statement, officials described the the hacks and subsequent publication of stolen emails on WikiLeaks as an attempt to “interfere” with the U.S. election that is “consistent with the Russian-directed efforts,” but provided no evidence to support their assessment.
President-elect Donald Trump has denied that Russia was involved in the hacks, and Obama has been under pressure to provide proof."
Inga: You do know the FBI never laid hands on the server, right? That they trusted a report from an industry third party, who recently had to re-write significant parts of their report to dial back the accusations against Russia?
"You don't need a warrant, Officer". I'll search my own house and tell you what I find."
Don't tell me you've already retired the "Trump Derangement Syndrome" tag. And you had such a great streak with it! Oh well, I guess when even the last straight-shooter left for Trump to use for credibility determines that he, too, can no longer pass on the need for independent investigations, the scandals have become real and serious. Even for a Trumper-to-the-Ender.
So what is the point of a Special prosecutor? The FBI has been investigating the Trump-Russia "connection" for 10 months and found nothing. Flynn has been under investigation for months with nothing to show for it.
What is the crime that needs a special prosecutor? We're back to the same old crap where the Democrats can commit CRIMES right and left and no one gives a shit. But if the Democrats yell loud enough and through enough unfounded accusations around we get FBI/Congressional/Special Prosecutor investigations that will last for years trying to find a crime and someone to charge.
Crazy.
"The scandals have become real and serious."
-- People died in the F&F scandal. That's "real and serious." And we learned from that you can stonewall Congress and refuse to cooperate and nothing bad happens. So, whatever Trump is accused of? Small ball.
Happy?
No wall; check
Welcome throwback-Muslims; check
No Obamacare repeal; check
No tax reform; check
Special Counsel appointed; check: Dems officially retake control of the government.
Still happy? check
"There are federal laws against foreigners of any type, Russian or not, giving money to American candidates. But, what about useful information? Is that illegal? Foreign ambassadors in the US have the right of free speech, too. If they think HRC was a putz & preferred Trump, can't an ambassador say that to either or both candidates? I just don't see what can be done to stop ambassadorial staff from meeting a candidate's staffer at a bar for drinks & the ambassadorial staffer saying "Do you know what I just heard...?".
Even if there was a connection between Trump & the Russians, which I very much doubt, it may be unsavory, but it almost certainly wasn't illegal."
I'm not so sure about that.
http://www.newsweek.com/did-trump-campaign-collude-russia-follow-money-595661
"Federal campaign finance law prohibits a “foreign national” (such as the Russian government) from spending money to influence U.S. elections. And it also provides that if a political campaign “coordinates” with anyone outside the campaign who is spending money to influence the election, then the campaign would have to treat the outside money as in-kind contributions (which, from a foreign government, are illegal), and report them on federal disclosure forms.
In this case, it would violate at least three different campaign finance laws if Trump campaign advisors coordinated with the Russian government.
The issue for the FEC is not whether Trump's campaign made promises in exchange for Russian assistance, nor whether Russian activity swayed the election. The questions for the FEC are much narrower:
(1) Were Russian-funded campaign communications made at the request or suggestion of the campaign, or (2) did campaign advisors fail to observe a strict 120-day waiting period between working for the Trump campaign and the Russian government?
Either would constitute “ coordination ” of campaign communications under campaign finance law."
I don;t have a strong enough stomach to read all the comments.
" Who was in that meeting? I doubt they were "leftists".
The leakers were NOT in the meeting. They are "present and former officials' all appointed by Obama.
In other news today, Trump announces plan to upgrade icebreaker fleet.
Is this guy capable of an executive action that doesn't have something to do with Russian-oriented interests or electioneering? Half his agenda revolves around those guys who fronted the monies for his golf courses during the recession.
"Federal campaign finance law prohibits a “foreign national” (such as the Russian government)
from spending money to influence U.S. elections."
-- A meaningless law as Obama's campaign was never punished/charged for willingly collecting donations from foreign nationals.
Crap. This "special counsel" crap always goes wrong, ranging far afield, takes forever, and absolutely has to end in a scalp. Any scalp, as the unfortunate Scooter Libby learned. I thought Trump was going to NOT play by the Stupid Party Playbook.
This is the Establishment trying to take out Trump. Now we have, Comey's friend Muller in charge of investigating Trump. BTW, the Democrats are ALREADY saying a special prosecutor isn't enough, we need a special COMMISSION. The Republicans will probably cave on that in a month.
Matthew Sablan said...
We have spent a year chasing phantom Russians but can't charge people with a crime who destroy subpoenaed evidence. The rule of law is on the death bed.
worth a repeat
"In this case, it would violate at least three different campaign finance laws if Trump campaign advisors coordinated with the Russian government."
-- The only actual coordination we know of is Ukranian officials coordinating with American interests to thwart Trump.
Trump is saying "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly"
LOL! When do these special prosecutors ever wrap things up "quickly"? He'll still be on the job a year from now.
-- People died in the F&F scandal. That's "real and serious."
Who? Drug runners or others caught in the regular crossfire of Mexican gangs? Oh no! Can't live with that. Better to kill off thousands by pricing 24 million out of the insurance market.
You guys are ok with killing people. Just for different reasons.
And we learned from that you can stonewall Congress and refuse to cooperate and nothing bad happens. So, whatever Trump is accused of? Small ball.
Trump is a pathological liar who has no agenda beyond propping up his horribly bad image and making a policy out of the last thing the nearest staffer whispers into his ear.
"Drug runners or others caught in the regular crossfire of Mexican gangs?"
-- At least one Border Patrol agent and dozens of innocent Mexican civilians the drug cartels purged to send a message to other civilians who weren't cooperating, as well as those injured or killed during the recent Paris attacks. Do you... do you actually keep up with current events?
I honestly think that Trump thought the Democrats would thank him for firing Comey, given they hated him so much.
At the very least I hope Trump will learn from this and NOT appoint a Democrat to the FBI.
Vince Foster investigation took 3 years and then Trump was not satisfied with the result.
This is how Republicans showcase their inability to maintain perspective. Exactly how much more damage did Project Gunrunner (which started under Bush) do when compared to Operation Cyclone and arming the Afghani mujahideen?
Answer: IOKIYAR.
Uh, Gunrunner and F&F are two different things. The fact you don't know that lets me know not to bother engaging with you on this subject.
"Can't picture how the investigation stumbles into an investigation of the Clinton campaign."
-- Wouldn't matter. Clinton staff can lie about handing over all of your devices with relevant emails and not get punished, while Flynn having a perfectly legal and above board conversation has his privacy broken and illegally leaked to the press and illegally unmasked by political operatives and he gets punished.
The system is broken.
Worth a repeat.
I think the Trump Administration just jumped into the briar patch.
Robert Mueller is the FBI, and the Democrats can't do anything but try to smile and praise him.
Do you... do you actually keep up with current events?
Do you keep up with history?
Let's go ahead and compare Republican failed policy body counts (esp. since Gunrunner started under Bush) with Democrat failed policy body counts. Sure, let's go there.
Does August 2001 sound like a good starting point or do you want to go back to where you guys started with arming the mujahideen over a decade earlier? Just name the starting point.
Toothless: Sorry. You had several chances to show you'd actually have a discussion in good faith. You failed, multiple times already. Better like next time.
I honestly think that Trump thought the Democrats would thank him for firing Comey, given they hated him so much.
At the very least I hope Trump will learn from this and NOT appoint a Democrat to the FBI.
Furthermore, if collusion with Russia did happen, what were the terms of their agreement? Pay for play? "I'll help you become President by hacking DNC computers and releasing it to Wikileaks (Trump: I love Wikileaks!) if you promise to lift sanctions" for example.
"Furthermore, if collusion with Russia did happen, what were the terms of their agreement? Pay for play?"
-- Maybe he just promised them more flexibility after the election.
Or 20% of our uranium.
Toothless: Sorry. You had several chances to show you'd actually have a discussion in good faith. You failed, multiple times already. Better like next time.
Well, when your faith-based discussions are ready to mature into fact-based discussions, let me know.
What would be wonderful is if you could have reason-based discussions.
Your president is going down and his party of followers is not far behind.
Mueller is a good man, but I'm not a fan of having a special prosecutor.
But, Trump's lack of self-discipline has added fuel to the inquest.
Appointing a special counsel always feels good at first as it takes some of the pressure off. However, once it metastasizes into an effort to prove some wrongdoing somewhere by the targets of the investigation, as inevitably happens, the pain returns orders of magnitude worse. Such will happen here.
Trump is toxic.
Appointing a special counsel always feels good at first as it takes some of the pressure off. However, once it metastasizes into an effort to prove some wrongdoing somewhere by the targets of the investigation, as inevitably happens, the pain returns orders of magnitude worse. Such will happen here.
I guess it depends. Is Mueller as sexually deprived as Kenneth Starr and does he have an interest in Russian urolagnia?
Limit his budget if it bothers you that much.
I'm sure with even a paltry sum a halfway decent, and properly empowered independent investigator will find tales of corruption and depravity among the Trump Operation that will make Putin look like a piker.
Get on with it, already. Before the voters throw out even twice your number of expected 2018 seat losses.
@TTR Democrats' failure body counts:Viet Nam: 58,000 killed, 150,000 wounded. Any administration of whatever party has a long way to go to catch up to LBJ and Bobby Mac!
Good point, khesanh. Although a little before my generation. No one beats the baby boomers when it comes to the dysfunctional rut that American politics has remained frozen in for a too many decades already.
Although don't count the Republicans out. While they might have minimized the thousands of American lives lost in their optional daddy vengeance war in Iraq, they did manage to get a million Iraqis killed, unleash a civil bloodbath, and decimate the ancient Christian communities in the north that originally brought Mesopotamia to fame. Pity about those Assyrians. And then committed us to indefinite troop presence lest the Da-esh thing actually happened.
Wonderful policy, that.
Trump is saying "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly"
OMG! Trump isn't giving them the time needed to do a proper investigation. OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE!!!
Majority Leader to colleagues last June: 'Putin is paying Trump.' Paul Ryan: 'Shut up! Shut up!'"
"The Washington Post has a new blockbuster that puts the whole of the House Republican leadership into complicity with popular vote loser Donald Trump and his Russia ties, but mostly Speaker Paul Ryan. The Post notes that when Ryan and McCarthy were asked for comment, their spokespeople denied it ever happened—“Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said: 'That never happened,' and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: 'The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false.'" Once they were informed by the Post that they had access to the recording, it all became a big joke, "a failed attempt at humor." Here's that lame humor:
A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress—House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy—made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016 exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy’s assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.
Before the conversation, McCarthy and Ryan had emerged from separate talks at the U.S. Capitol with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions."
"This is also the day after the news of the Russian hack into the DNC broke. McCarthy told his (probably nervously) laughing colleagues, "Swear to God," according to the Post, and Ryan interjected "No leaks...This is how we know we're a real family here."
"We're a real family here." A real Republican family that would go on to back a deeply flawed and dangerous Republican front-runner and eventually president. Even when they had this knowledge, these doubts. You couldn't have a more blatant demonstration of party before country than that. They kept those concerns to themselves when speaking out could potentially have prevented Trump from getting the Republican nomination.
Then later, after he'd secured the nomination, Ryan, along with other Senate leaders, was warned by the CIA that Russia was helping the Trump campaign, a warning that Mitch McConnell squelched. And of course Paul Ryan acquiesced with, because they're "real family.""
Much more shit is going to hit the fan.
Carl Bernstein, "The President is not fit for office."
Trump won. Get over it.
Bernstein has been driven insane. No basis in fact for that statement.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/house-gop-leaders-discussed-whether-putin-pays-trump.html
"Shortly after Russian hackers broke into the Democratic National Committee’s computer network last year, members of the House GOP leadership discussed Vladimir Putin’s geopolitical ambitions.
During that private conversation, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggested that the party’s likely nominee was on the Kremlin’s payroll. Paul Ryan, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Steve Scalise laughed. McCarthy said, “swear to God.” Ryan swore all present to secrecy.
All would go on to endorse Trump. McCarthy would offer the president such dogged support, he’d come to refer to the majority leader as “My Kevin.”
And, nearly a year later, someone would handed a tape of that conversation to the Washington Post. On Wednesday, the paper published a partial transcript of the chat:
“I’ll guarantee you that’s what it is…The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp [opposition] research that they had on Trump,” McCarthy said with a laugh.
Ryan asked who the Russians “delivered” the opposition research to.
“There’s… there’s two people, I think, Putin pays: [California Republican Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said, drawing some laughter.
“Swear to God,” McCarthy added.
“This is an off the record,” Ryan said. Some lawmakers laughed at that.
“No leaks, alright?,” Ryan said, adding: “This is how we know we’re a real family here.”
“That’s how you know that we’re tight,” Scalise said.
“What’s said in the family stays in the family,” Ryan added."
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016 exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post.
So more unfounded speculation by people who hate Trump. Whoop-Dee-Doo!
Carl Bernstein, "The President is not fit for office."
Trump won. Get over it.
Bernstein has been driven insane. No basis in fact for that statement.
25th Amendment says otherwise.
What's up, were you in Russia? Time to crack out that Olde Constitution!
Elections have consequences? Glad you got the memo. Know what else has consequences? Lawbreaking and abject incompetence in office.
This blonde pumpkin-headed shit-for-brains is going down. Even if he's not out he's hobbled. And not even after a term and a re-election, like Clinton. Less than 150 days in.
But this was the best your side could do, I get it. Pity.
I bet once he's removed/hobbled you'll tell us how awesome Penice is with this same bullshit line.
Well, when your faith-based discussions are ready to mature into fact-based discussions, let me know.
Sez the person who believes sexual orientation is the result of "hormones."
"When initially asked to comment on the exchange, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said: “That never happened,” and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: “The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false.”
After being told that The Post would cite a recording of the exchange, Buck, speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: “This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor.”
On the one hand, there is a lot of laughing in that transcript. On the other, McCarthy laughed when he said that the Russians had hacked the DNC and scooped up opposition research on Trump — a claim that appears to be more factual than humorous."
Wow, so the FBI's computer experts personally examined the DNC computers and found Russian hackers as the cause?
When some body can answer that question "Yes," then I will start paying attention.
Was Hillary Clinton the worst candidate for president in living memory?
When somebody can legitimately answer that question "No," then I might believe the Russians forced her not to campaign in the upper midwest.
Sez the person who believes sexual orientation is the result of "hormones."
All sexual orientation is the result of hormones, you home-schooled Evangelical, creationist Christian-in-Name-Only.
Did you ever have a sex drive? Still do?
Castrate yourself and tell me how that affect it.
Then take some testosterone and record the result.
This is called "science." Experimentation. Observation.
Nothing you can get out of the bible or a Leave It to Beaver episode.
Shit. Even the ancient Greeks knew this stuff. You're too conservative even for them, apparently.
Know what else has consequences? Lawbreaking and abject incompetence in office.
Not if your name is Hillary Clinton or Lois Lerner or James Clapper or...
@TTR Well let's add the total Viet Namese body count to our glorious Democratic score keeping. It's hard to get a fully accurate total( I am not sure your million Iraqi civilians is completely to blame on the US, either), but using a similar method as you did the figures currently available of NVA, VC and North and South Vietnamese civilian total between 1.5 and 3.5 million dead. LBJ was no piker!
Incidentally, history did not begin with your generation.
Gotta hear it for Wetzel. He's so reactionary conservative he's downright pre-Hellenistic!
Whooot! Let's hear it for pre-recorded history hunter-gatherer science.
Wetzel believes Thor creates thunder. Oh wait. Even that's a more advanced explanation than the stage of intellectual history he's stuck at.
Don't ever let anyone call you a low-info voter, Wetzel. That's an insult!
You're a no-info everything.
I see no reason not to say this is the perfect move.
Exactly. The FBI can go back to working on counterterrorism, and Mueller can run back and forth to Congressional hearings every time the WAPO or NYT prints speculation from anonymous sources who no longer work in the government.
Incidentally, history did not begin with your generation.
Maybe the ability to learn from it did.
Way to edit out all the laughter in what was obviously a joking exchange, Inga.
The WashPo's actual transcript has it in there. For some zany reason you and the Media people desperately pushing something this dumb leave that out.
That's not a hacky move you'd have to be a piece of shit to make; no way.
Not if your name is Hillary Clinton or Lois Lerner or James Clapper or...
Waaaahhhhaha! Why can't my enemies be easier targets of my political disgruntlements! Waaaahahaaaa!
Gun and ammo stocks are look good to me right now. Lost value in the last few months, but things are looking bright again.
The Toothless Revolutionary said...I guess it depends. Is Mueller as sexually deprived as Kenneth Starr and does he have an interest in Russian urolagnia?
Holy hell, people are still pushing the "Kenneth Starr is a sexual pervert" line as a way to deflect from Bill Clinton's sexual misdeeds and the lying the Clinton folks did in an attempt to cover up same? In 2017?!
I was almost certain even the really stupid Leftists had given that up by now. I guess I give people too much credit.
Ritmo said: All sexual orientation is the result of hormones, you home-schooled Evangelical, creationist Christian-in-Name-Only.
Did you ever have a sex drive? Still do?
Way to not answer the question and to change the subject from sexual orientation to sex drive. Fail
Did testosterone make you gay when you shooting it up, Ritmo?
Toothless Revolutionary:
It is you who don't know history.
The policy of arming Islamic fundamentalists against the USSR was started by Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski. As he himself admitted here:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BRZ110A.html
The Carter-Brzezinski plan was to weaken the USSR by stirring up trouble in the "stans" bordering Russia.
Brzezinski was happy when the USSR invaded Afghanistan to quell the violence there. He knew that we could keep them tied down there.
Reagan expanded the policy further. But Reagan didn't invent the policy. The Carter Administration did.
And older left-wingers--old enough to be YOUR grandparents--knew that.
If you look at the Democrats since The Glorious Ninth of November you can see that within a fairly short period of time the impeachment fantasy had to take over or end. The Democrat-media axis has gone completely crazy to the point of leaking the very secrets they accuse Trump of telling the Russians. They can't wake up on their own. They believe that "everyone" feels as they do. They have determined on a trial of strength. They have decided to end this President - this legally elected President. They have decided to show the American people that only the left matters. They have decided to give the finger to the voters. The Swamp Strikes Back. And Trump has said: "Bring it on, now." That's his nature - not lie, stonewall, lawyer-up but "OK, let's get this finished". Who can say how this will play out? But I predict that the President who was elected will remain in the White House ... however it happens. This is just a last hurrah by the left-media complex; it's Sunset Boulevard, not Watergate.
Way to not answer the question and to change the subject from sexual orientation to sex drive. Fail.
There is no sex orientation without a sex drive, Mr. asexual autistic automaton.
You don't "orient" a car without a direction you're trying to drive it in.
You people are beyond hope. Forget post-modern. It's like you're post-thought.
Nothing good ever comes of a 'special' investigation. The innocent will end up guilty after 'obstructing justice', 'lying to investigators', or just being a scalp necessary to legitimize the special investigation.
Reagan expanded the policy further. But Reagan didn't invent the policy. The Carter Administration did.
Here's the right-wing clarification that gives truth to his previous lie. Supporting Russia's adversaries morally, with minimal material support is nothing like massively arming the Taliban. Think for a change. You guys have no capacity for proportion. You'd equally charge someone arming others with a bebe gun as with a bazooka.
Just think for a change. Get a sense of proportion. Stop trying to lie to get off the hook. Trump may be your hero, but he's no example. Numbers matter.
I see no reason not to say this is the perfect move.
The “perfect move?” For who? I’d say that it is perfect for the Democrat’s purpose – which is to impeach Trump, or failing that to make it impossible to for the POTUS to get anything done. There’ll be phony leaks to invent, fake news to push and breathless speculation for years to come. For THAT it is perfect.
The cables and the failing print media are ecstatic; this gives them gift-wrapped story lines from even more “anonymous sources”(who do not exist). Ratings galore! WaPo can sell even more newspapers to beltway insiders.
The eGOP is happy because now maybe they can get rid of Trump by impeachment since they couldn’t sabotage Trump well enough during the campaign to cause him to lose. McCain will be holding forth to his handlers, the MSM. They love it when he blasts Trump.
The Democrats have got what THEY wanted. Special Prosecutors have been very good for them in the past. Patrick Fitzgerald couldn’t get the real target in 2003, which was President Bush, but he got Scooter Libby for not remembering every fucking phone call he ever got. A scalp was had. This will be no different. Let the witch-hunt begin!
But it’s all very interesting, even fascinating. We are going to see if a POTUS can last with everyone against him except those who voted him in. We are going to see just how feckless Congress can be. We are going to see if Mueller, who is an asshole buddy of Comey, can do a timely, efficient and fair job. I’ll bet he can’t.
Lefty idiots dominating the thread.
Bye.
You don't "orient" a car without a direction you're trying to drive it in.
Thrust and choice of holes are are a vector quantity?
You people are beyond hope. Forget post-modern. It's like you're post-thought.
You have hope in your soul and...
“Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu
Lefty idiots dominating the thread.
Bye.
Righty idiot concedes defeat!
I'm sure this thread isn't the only place where they dominate him.
Balls want to Impeach Trump and install Hillary.
It's hers dammit!
Conservatives begin to whisper: President Pence
“With Trump swamped by self-inflicted scandals, Republicans find solace in the man waiting in the wings.”
“Not since the release of the Access Hollywood tape, in which Donald Trump bragged about groping women by the genitals, have some conservatives thought so seriously, if a bit wistfully, about two words: President Pence.”
"Furthermore, if collusion with Russia did happen, what were the terms of their agreement? Pay for play?"
-- Maybe he just promised them more flexibility after the election.
Heh. Reset buttons to uranium fortunes!
Where are the ebullient Democrats?
I think Democrats are starting to ask themselves whether they've shot their independent counsel wad on an investigation that has pretty much run its course and gone nowhere. How many more independent counsels can they demand before their electoral fortunes are affected?
Inga said...
"The Deputy AG's order lays out the scope of the investigation. It' won't include unrelated allegations against Democrats."
They were so hoping it would.
Two thoughts in response:
1.) I believe the IC assignment does include "other matters."
2.) I don't believe AG Sessions recused himself from investigation or prosecution of Hillary Clinton.
So, you've got R&B way over there . . .
All sexual orientation is the result of hormones, you home-schooled Evangelical, creationist Christian-in-Name-Only.
And reality off in another galaxy.
What causes a person to have a particular sexual orientation?
There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.
http://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation.aspx
What did this become? APA story-time hour?
Yes, it's complex, but if you find someone without a source of hormones or gonads that has a sexual interest strong enough to actually bother with identifying a specific orientation, do let them know.
I shudder to think what kind of sex lives you people have. Gonad-less and all based on perceived social obligation, apparently.
No wonder the word "cuck" got so much circulation.
Chickenlittle reveals himself.
Bad move.
The stink of the Republican establishment is all over this.
The same one that is sold to the same interests that own the Democrats. With an investigation going it will be that much harder to discipline the Republican majorities, and that much harder to push legislation.
And that much harder to discipline the agencies.
Eww, post-op photos of Caitlyn Jenner!
Obama deliberately turned off the most basic credit card verification safeguards during his campaign. People tested this by donating under the name Osama Bin Laden (not to mention Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck). Obama's campaign accepted those donations. Estimates are that he received millions in foreign cash
Leftists didn't care. At all. Now Inga wants to enforce rules against foreign donations. With no proof, and with a vengeance.
FUAD, Inga.
How dare those scientists think that their mountains of research trump (ha!) R&B's feelings!
And what federal statute outlaws "links" or "coordination"?
As for the hysteria -
This is not a matter of hysteria, but calculated moves by people playing a very high stakes game. Hysteria is a tool, not a condition they suffer from. Hysteria is for the pawns on their chessboard.
Wow.
This is a big deal. And I will not claim that I told you so, because 24 hours ago I did not think this would happen.
It is a far, far bigger deal than even the most super-duper Joint Bicameral Bipartisan Select Special Committee. A special prosecutor in the DoJ has much more power. There will be subpoenas. Utterly unlike any Congressional subpoenas. They can get any record, phone call, email, visitor log ... and Oval Office voice recording, that they might want.
The Special Prosecutor won't waste any time, churning stuff just because it might make a splash in the New York Times. They are going to look for crimes. The allusions to Scooter Libby up above; I think that they are apt.
Like I already said; I didn't see this coming. And I am surprised, based on what I know. Which is undoubtedly less than what the Deputy Attorney General knows. They must know a lot more, about some significantly more hinky shit, than is in the popular press.
It's not feeling but a fact that if there are no hormones, there will be no sexual interest or sexual behavior. It's apparently one of those little-known secrets that was made so obvious to human civilization over millennia of castrating animals and other people that the APA thought to be outside the scope of their supposedly complex social question.
Insofar as asexual is an orientation, a lack of hormones is the surest way to cause it.
Now go play, little child. Amateur sex therapist hour is over.
Dick Morris says;
The Trump Administration may never recover from the decision of Deputy Attorney General Rob Rosenstein to cave into Democratic pressure and appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the totally fictitious “scandal” of Trump’s relationship with Putin.
The prosecutor, hired to investigate something that never happened, will not report Trump’s innocence. Special prosecutors never do. They justify their own existence, importance, budget, and staff by finding something to prosecute. Usually the “crime” they end up going after is one that his own investigation has created.
Remember the Valerie Plame affair? After years of work the special prosecutor found that no crime had occurred. The person who leaked her link to the CIA was authorized to do so. With no crime to come up with, Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, indicted poor Scooter Libby, an aide to VP Dick Cheney, for perjury, a crime that would never have taken place had there been no investigation.
That’s how special prosecutors work.
In the meantime, they hobble the president, drain away his political credibility, separate him from his supporters, and paralyze his administration. No legislator is willing to lend his support for fear of what the prosecutor might find. Each one will run for cover rather than work with Trump to get something done.
Democrats are fascist corrupt scum.
"The Special Prosecutor won't waste any time . . ."
Uh, there is no special prosecutor, Chuck.
"Democrats are fascist corrupt scum."
That's cold:
Still considering Morris a D.
Anywho, he is fascist corrupt scum, regardless of his political label.
"And I am surprised, based on what I know. Which is undoubtedly less than what the Deputy Attorney General knows."
Don't be so modest, Chuck.
Maybe you should write a sternly-worded letter to the APA, give them your qualifications, and explain to them that their science is wrong, R&B.
Do you seriously believe people are unreasonable for believing the APA over some anonymous, random krazee guy on the interwebs?
"They can get any record, phone call, email, visitor log ... and Oval Office voice recording, that they might want."
Financial records for DJT businesses?
Flynn on Hillary Clinton at the RNC: If I did a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today
NBC Reporter: What if, hypothetically, one were to do ten times as much?
I just want to remind everyone that when Trump sacked Comey I predicted that a special prosecutor was inevitable. I will take your applause as a given.
Democrats are fascist corrupt scum.
Beware overlapping and convergent interests.
For example, we know that Democrats were the face of the catastrophic anthropogenic financial dislocation, but they could not have suppressed the audits of Fannie/Freddie et al without Republican cooperation.
Then there is catastrophic anthropogenic global warming. Well, that does appear to be exclusively a Democrat enterprise.
However, elective regime change, extrajudicial trials, and forced catastrophic anthropogenic immigration reform, while they have Obama and Clinton's signatures, there are bipartisan fingerprints everywhere.
And the current baby hunt, Democrats, certainly, left, and center, they are Pro-Choice on principle, but also Republican establishment with overlapping and convergent interests, and perhaps because they are also Pro-Choice.
From what we know, both parties and press factions have enthusiastic baby hunters, and, with the promise of reversing Obama's status quo, they may be sufficiently desperate to hold, if not an abortion rite, then a baby trial. They have Planned this since day -100, since Trump was a viable candidate.
Brookzene said...
Flynn on Hillary Clinton at the RNC: If I did a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today
NBC Reporter: What if, hypothetically, one were to do ten times as much?
5/17/17, 9:05 PM
Well Flynn has *probably* killed more people than the Clintons, but after all, he was a soldier for 30 years, so he had permission.
3rdGradePB_GoodPerson said...
"They can get any record, phone call, email, visitor log ... and Oval Office voice recording, that they might want."
Financial records for DJT businesses?
Now Mueller has to worry about leaks from lefties on his own team who see short-term political gain.
If that happens and Mueller has integrity, the focus of the investigation will turn 180 degrees.
Flynn told the White House Counsel before he was hired that he was under investigation by the FBI. They still hired him. Incompetence is an understatement.
"The timeline, based on the reporting
Nov 18: Trump offers Flynn NSA post
Jan 4: Flynn discloses he is under federal investigation
Jan 20: Trump takes office, Flynn becomes NSA
Jan 26: Sally Yates warns McGahn Flynn could be subject to Russian blackmail
Feb 13: Flynn dismissed as NSA"
https://www.axios.com/report-trump-knew-flynn-was-under-investigation-before-hiring-him-2412169471.html
"Well Flynn has *probably* killed more people than the Clintons, but after all, he was a soldier for 30 years, so he had permission."
Alex Jones disciple weighs in.
AReasonableMan said...
I just want to remind everyone that when Trump sacked Comey I predicted that a special prosecutor was inevitable. I will take your applause as a given.
I just don't see any really happy Democrats, for the reasons I stated @8:28.
As they say, be careful what you wish for.
Blogger AReasonableMan said...
I just want to remind everyone that when Trump sacked Comey I predicted that a special prosecutor was inevitable. I will take your applause as a given.
What "Special Prosecutor"?
Are you having trouble with the ol' gray matter toady, ARM?
Lewis Wetzel said...
What "Special Prosecutor"?
Special Counsel/Special Prosecuter? What's it matter? He's special. I was close enough to get that applause and I want to thank you.
Lewis Wetzel said...
"The Special Prosecutor won't waste any time . . ."
Uh, there is no special prosecutor, Chuck.
Lewis just crushed me, with the correction that Mueller's legal appointment is as "Special Counsel," and that "special prosecutor" is a colloquialism, for that very thing.
Is that pretty much it, Lewis?
Lewis, you're a dummy.
"What "Special Prosecutor"?
Are you having trouble with the ol' gray matter toady, ARM?"
"Why is Robert Mueller called a "special counsel"?
It's largely terminology. The new regulations under special counsels are currently appointed refer to the position as a "special counsel." When the function was created, in response to the Watergate investigation, it was known as "special prosecutor", and the individual was appointed by a judicial panel. The only person with the power to appoint an individual in these circumstances is the Attorney General, or in this case, the Deputy Attorney General, because of Jeff Sessions' recusal."
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-mueller-fbi-special-counsel-what-you-need-to-know/
EDH said...
As they say, be careful what you wish for.
I didn't wish for this special person, I just predicted that they were inevitable. I was of course mocked, not that I am bitter.
They wouldn't even admit Trump was under investigation a week ago, lol.
Is the strongest DJT apologist POV jabbering re Special Counsel v Special Prosecutor (not to mention v Special Counsel (e.g. Iran-Contra))?
Sheesh.
FTR, if the coastal elites manage to steal the fairly won Presidency from Trump, then his supporters in the mid-west and in the south are certain to support armed rebellion.
It's a loyalty thing.
So what crime is Mueller prosecuting?
Inga? Chuck?
Independent Counsel, for I-C.
"Can't believe Flynn would be so disloyal and work for Turkey. Putin must be pissed."
-writer
He's not prosecuting any crimes. He's counseling them.
Making predictions about what is going to happen in the Trump presidency is not as easy as I make it look. He's a wacky guy and keeps you on your toes. To the inexperienced eye it all looks like a dumpster fire, but I see the nuances.
Blogger AReasonableMan said..."Making predictions about what is going to happen in the Trump presidency is not as easy as I make it look. He's a wacky guy and keeps you on your toes. To the inexperienced eye it all looks like a dumpster fire, but I see the nuances."
You and Chuck are competing for most modest tonight.
Lewis, why do we have to do your homework for you?
"A special prosecutor (or special counsel or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate and possibly prosecute a specific legal case of potential wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exists for the usual prosecuting authority. For example, the investigation of an allegation against a sitting president or attorney-general might be handled by a special prosecutor rather than an ordinary prosecutor, who would otherwise be in the position of investigating their own boss. Investigations into others connected to the government but not in a position of direct authority over the prosecutor, such as cabinet secretaries or election campaigns, have also been handled by special prosecutors."
Wiki
Just to be clear:
What is the crime that is alleged?
"You and Chuck are competing for most modest tonight."
Ha.
But seriously, there's a clear winner re actual dealing w/ a humbling re reality. Tradguy is already contemplating the ouster of his savior.
SAD!
"What is the crime that is alleged?"
Being fat and gross.
Hopefully Titus is on the jury.
Original Mike said...
You and Chuck are competing for most modest tonight.
I am yugely more modest than Chuck. Bigly modest. Chuck is low energy modest.
Wiki, Inga?
traditionalguy wrote: FTR, if the coastal elites manage to steal the fairly won Presidency from Trump, then his supporters in the mid-west and in the south are certain to support of armed rebellion.
It's a loyalty thing.
Astute, as always. This is why Hillary and Obama wanted to disarm them.
Brookzene said...
"Well Flynn has *probably* killed more people than the Clintons, but after all, he was a soldier for 30 years, so he had permission."
Alex Jones disciple weighs in.
5/17/17, 9:10 PM
F*** you for the humorless b**** that you are.
David Baker:
the wall would be nice and I hope it still happens. At the moment, illegal immigration is down 70% just because people are scared of President Trump. Not bad for having been in office 115 days or so. The actual wall can come later. Or not at all if he can keep the illegals out without it. A lot of folks, including me, thought/think a wall is necessary. If it is not, that is even better.
Obamacare repeal? That is ongoing. Obamacare is failing more badly every day with more insurers closing up shop. In 6 months, if nothing is done, it will be mostly gone. Then, with or without Congress, President Trump can declare an emergency and open up the insurance free market again.
tax reform? I think that will happen and it will be more or less what President Trump proposed. Not 100%, that's an opening bid. He'll give up 25% or so.
Unemployment is the lowest it's been since the 80s.
Here's a list from Scott Adams
The economy
Trade deals
China relations
Russia (our frenemy) is working with the U.S. on Syria, North Korea
China is putting pressure on North Korea
Jobs
Healthcare progress (more to do)
Supreme Court nominee confirmed
Tax reform maybe
Optimism for an Israeli-Palestinian “deal”
Safe Zones coming along for Syrian refugees
Illegal immigration down over 70% because of Trump’s persuasion alone.
Business confidence high.
Sure it would always be nice to have more. But if we have too much winning, we may get tired of it eventually. I'm certainly not tired of winning yet.
John Henry
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