December 9, 2018

If you want to talk about Mueller and Trump...

... please feel free to use the comments here to link to things and discuss them.

I feel myself to be in a state of resistance. The headlines seem constructed to create anxiety and anger, and I decline to be sucked in. I'm tired of the dribblings from the investigation. Let Mueller come out with a complete report. Lay out all the evidence, and let Trump and his people provide their context and argument, and I will pay attention again.

82 comments:

rhhardin said...

The only actual crime uncovered is moping with intent to creep.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Schitt- CNN's go-to corruptocrat, is insisting Trump will spend time in jail because of payments to females as hush money for sex.

But setting up and using a Private Server while head of the STate Dept is totally cool.

bleh said...

Paying hush money to women to influence an election. Lmao is this really where this is headed? I shudder to think of all the payoffs to inconvenient bimbos orchestrated by Clinton, Kennedy, etc. I wonder how many were just killed in freak accidents or suicides?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

In marked contrast, though, when it was discovered that Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign was guilty of violations involving nearly $2 million – an amount that dwarfs the $280,000 in Cohen’s case – the Obama Justice Department decided not to prosecute. Instead, the matter was quietly disposed of by a $375,000 fine by the Federal Election Commission.

Andrew C. McCarthy: Why Trump is likely to be indicted by Manhattan US Attorney

rhhardin said...

Expenses only count towards the campaign if the only reason for them is to further the campaign. Haircuts for instance don't count because while it helps the campaign that's not the only reason for them. Likewise paying off babes.

Mark said...

Don't get sucked in to this farce that there is a legitimate investigation. The right word to use for this is COUP. An anti-democratic overthrow of the elected government. That's what it has always been. Do not lose sight of that.

The Bergall said...

Sick of the melodrama.............just go away.

Wince said...

Trump would be blessed if the NDAs are what they come after him with.

Darrell said...

The financial markets like the prospect of the return of Democrat power and all their crap ideas. Pay your new higher taxes with your financial losses, all you cocksuckers that voted for them. Leave a light on for your new illegal buddies. And let them eat your lunch and dinner.

bleh said...

Transferring Monica Lewisky to the Pentagon in an election year was surely not motivated by electoral politics. Nor was her subsequent job offer at Revlon, which Vernon Jordan had nothing to do with.

And I’m sure there weren’t any women in Arkansas in the 80’s and 90’s who found themselves or their loved ones with comfortable employment in or contracts with state government. Nope. Definitely did not happen.

Bobby Kennedy thanked his lucky stars when Marilyn Monroe died. What a stroke of good fortune for him!

Trump won in 2016, and America is different place than it was in 1992 or the 60’s. It is strange to me that Trump would pay off these women when anyone with half a brain knew what kind of man the thrice-married Trump was. He always fancied himself a playboy and bragged about fucking around. Now suddenly he wants to act like a devoted family man, particularly when his opponent is ruthless power-hungry bimbo-slayer HRC? It doesn’t make sense.

I suspect Cohen pushed these agreements to get a bonus or commission from Trump. You know, show his value to Trump. So he and his buddies hyped the threat of these affairs becoming public. So Trump said take care of it, and they did.

Hagar said...

Ain't gonna happen - no way!
The game is to keep the show going with dark, but substanceless, statements that Mueller is just tying up some loose ends and then - perhaps even just next week - he will issue his report and we (the MSM) will have him dead to rights and impeachment will follow!

tcrosse said...

Luckily, I took my Required Minimum Distributions before the Market went in the dumper. There's a good chance next year's RMD will be lower, and it's even possible that the Market will be back up by the time I have to take them.

Sebastian said...

"I'm tired of the dribblings from the investigation"

But the dribblers are not tired of you.

It's very nice of you, and I appreciate the sensitivity and all, but until the Althouses of the world draw a line, decide they're not gonna take it anymore, and consistently vote GOP, tiresome things will keep happening, for some strange reason.

In fact, of course, nice educated women are turning against the GOP, cuz women's bodies and Orange Man Bad, inviting more tiresome madness, provoking them to proclaim themselves so tired of this and that, wondering why.

Comanche Voter said...

And skip the frickin redactions in the Mueller report. This guy has done more strip teasing than Gypsy Rose Lee--or Tempest Storm. No more peekaboo---show us what you got.

Yancey Ward said...

McCarthy has the same thought I did the other day- Mueller is going to hang his hat on the campaign finance angle, but if Trump used his own money, this isn't going to fly politically- they will have to show Trump used donated campaign funds to make a real go of it- Cohen's plea is meaningless here- he will have plead to a non-crime.

The issue isn't what you can get Democrats to believe about this- it is what you can get Republicans and Independents to believe. Trump paying off women with his own money isn't a secret- he has done it for decades and it was public information at the time of the election- hell, Daniels had her story published over a decade ago. The double standard here is a bit too obvious for it to work.

whitney said...

I found that after giving up drudge about 6 months ago I don't have news anxiety anymore. His headlines are designed to give you anxiety

Narayanan said...

Law professor hesitant to even sniff at law professionals' work product after millions of $$$.

Drawing beneficent pension after long teacher career.

Is that telling me something, hnmm

rcocean said...

Trump needs to be bold and decisive.

All the R Presidents beginning with Nixon make the same mistake.

They think all these investigations are about Legal matters. And they cooperate 100 percent, and listen to their lawyers, and think the Courts will come in and save them. Or the Prosecutors will behave responsibly and be fair.

Wrong. Its a political matter, and it needs to be dealt that way. Start pardoning people. Get Barr in their and fire Mueller. If the D's want to impeach, let them! No one cares about this ticky-tacky stuff.

rcocean said...

BTW, there's nothing to stop an "Impeached" Trump from running again in 2020.

Just sayin'

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Top center column at Drudge this morning:

Mueller flashes some cards, but hides his hand...

COMEY: FBI probe of Russia initially looked at 4 Americans...

Tells House Panel He Suspected Giuliani Was Leaking FBI Info to Media...


Mueller makes calculated leak from investigation he is heading. Comey leaks that he suspected Giuliani was leaking FBI information.

Seeing Red said...

The headlines seem constructed to create anxiety and anger, and I decline to be sucked in.

The anger from me was they’re trying a coup.

When I realized it was a nothingburger, I had no anger or anxiety. More of “there they go again!”

Bubba didn’t leave office, so why would Trump?

Narayanan said...

@It is strange to me that Trump would pay off these women...

Maybe Trump knew Democrats will overplay and get his money back for him, hnh hnh.

rcocean said...

Finally, R's need to stop living in fantasy land. All my life the R's are constantly being surprised by the D's.

"I never thought they'd break the rules or the traditions"
"I thought they'd do X for the good of the country, and they didn't"
"I thought they'd follow the law" etc.

The D"s will do ANYTHING to gain power. Use that to judge what they will do next.

narciso said...

what do those four officials, manafort, Flynn, papadop and page have in common, they were in contact with persons who had either informal ties, (deripasha through steele) or formal ties to mi 6,

http//www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/12/so_much_irony_its_maganetic.html

Fernandinande said...

[drudge] headlines are designed to give you anxiety

But they're funny because they're not true!

E.g. "Killer robots go 'off the rails in deadly malfunction errors'...", accompanied by a picture of a "robot skull" from Terminator, but the first two sentences in the linked article say no robots have killed anyone.

narciso said...

furthermore if you know the acting us atty, khuzaimi worked alongside miss Hodgeman, at the sec, where he missed indicting the major subprime players, came from deutsche bank, then you see he's a professional hack,

narciso said...

the investigation was corrupt at the root:

https://saraacarter.com/despite-comeys-forgetfulness-testimony-reveals-dossier-was-unverified-before-fisa/

fruit of the poison tree,

narciso said...

look what we have here:

https://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2018/04/former-miami-congressman-registers-as-qatari-agent.html

I submit this is more about Israel and the gulf states, then Russia, mercury was the firm founded by Schmidt, which is deep in the Russian business, lately david Vitter is next up

Leland said...

I saw some of the headlines, and they contradict each other based on what side is being promoted. I agree with the host that Mueller needs to provide a report, and until then be ignored. The Comey hearing is a nothing burger, because it is obvious he is lying and using Clintonesque deflection of key questions. Yet, like either Clinton, Comey won't be punished. So it is all just a show for political junkies, which I'm not.

narciso said...

Qatar sponsors the Taliban, hamas, boko haram, and a whole host of predatory organizatons from the hindu kush to the niger river,

Matt Sablan said...

"Schitt- CNN's go-to corruptocrat, is insisting Trump will spend time in jail because of payments to females as hush money for sex."

-- It is like no one remembers Edwards got off the hook for this exact same thing not that long ago.

narciso said...

not to mention, the payments then were strategic geared to particular primaries, the attorney who came up with this creative prosecution went to work for kamala harris,

traditionalguy said...

The Mueller tease for Dems has been like watching a soccer match where they take hundreds of shots on goal building up the pressure until one shot finally hits the net and everybody riots.

Remember, it is a Potemkin Village Prosecution. The real crimes have been investigated and documented for 2 years , with the help of the Saudis new ruler , while Mueller blows smoke.

Barry Dauphin said...

If Cohen’s information is so valuable to the investigation, why the recommendations for all the jail time? Shouldn’t the prosecutor be throwing him a parade or something.

JackWayne said...

I truly believe that Mueller will end up “exonerating” Trump with the lack of any indictment. His goal is to protect himself and his sleaziness and the FBI crookness more than to find fault with Trump. He is the quintessential bureaucrat: protect the unlimited government Uber Alles.

Chuck said...

rhhardin said...
Expenses only count towards the campaign if the only reason for them is to further the campaign. Haircuts for instance don't count because while it helps the campaign that's not the only reason for them. Likewise paying off babes.


Don’t kid yourself.

If these are bullshit charges, why did Mueller plead guilty? Plead guilty and roll over on the guy he said he’d take a bullet for? The guy who, just two years ago was saying, “Talk to Michael about it. He’s my lawyer...”?

Chuck said...

Trump says that Comey’s interview was filled with lies.

When is Trump’s interview? Perhaps he can answer lots of questions and clear all of this up.

Lol.

Hagar said...

OT as far as this particular is concerned, but my impression is that Trump has been quite economical about spending his own money to "influence" his election.
For comparison, see Michael Bloomberg, f. ex., who over his political career must have spent more money on his elections than Trump even claims to possess.

Tom Steyer, I think the Democrats will take his money, but not him. 10 North Frederick, kind of.

Big Mike said...

@Chuck, admit it, you racist pig. You are angry at Trump because his economic policies result in jobs for young, black males. I am sure you think money in their wallets makes them uppity.

walter said...


Buck Sexton
‏Verified account @BuckSexton
21h21 hours ago

Buck Sexton Retweeted The Hill
So they couldn’t get Trump on campaign collusion, which isn’t a crime, and he didn’t do it anyway-now they think they can get him on a campaign finance violation-
If it’s not this, it will be taxes. It will be something. They don’t care what. Anything.



Buck Sexton
‏Verified account @BuckSexton
22h22 hours ago

Buck Sexton Retweeted Benjamin Weingarten

Once again, Comey exposes himself as a sanctimonious clown-
Sure, “no serious person” thought there was a real case against Hillary, which is why Comey felt compelled to call a national press conference and explain in detail why it was a tough call. Just like every non-crime.



Paul Sperry
‏ @paulsperry_
Dec 8

CRIME UNSOLVED: Who was the "senior US government official" in the Obama administration who leaked Flynn's highly classified intercepts to WaPo's David Ignatius (well-known Brennan mouthpiece) in Jan 2017? And why hasn't this blatant felony been prosecuted after almost 2 years?

walter said...

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
7h7 hours ago

On 245 occasions, former FBI Director James Comey told House investigators he didn’t know, didn’t recall, or couldn’t remember things when asked. Opened investigations on 4 Americans (not 2) - didn’t know who signed off and didn’t know Christopher Steele. All lies!

Original Mike said...

Blogger Chuck said..."Trump says that Comey’s interview was filled with lies."

Chuck, I am honestly surprised that you are OK with the FBI Director lying his ass off to Congress.

walter said...

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/420408-comeys-confession-dossier-not-verified-before-or-after-fisa-warrant

Drago said...

OM: "Chuck, I am honestly surprised that you are OK with the FBI Director lying his ass off to Congress."

Why would that surprise you?

The entirety of the far left and the dems are perfectly OK with the FBI Director lying his a** off.

And, has been demonstrated repeatedly on this blog, LLR Chuck never allows much daylight between his position and that of his lefty masters.

In fact, the more extreme the position of the lefties, the more LLR Chuck apparently relishes taking up the Dem banners and attempting to advance the narratives.

This has been on full display now for about 2 and half years at least.

Drago said...

Personally, I have more respect for idiots like Max Boot who have clearly given up even attempting to maintain the illusion that they are conservative in any shape, manner or form.

But clearly, LLR Chuck, believes it helps for him to maintain the illusion while he continues unabated in his complete and utter lefty/dem operational alliance.

I don't believe the LLR Chuck/Pelosi/Dems cause really is advanced by such transparent cuckery, but then again I'm not the kind of guy, like LLR Chuck, that attacks children and offers up racist comments.

Original Mike said...

@Drago - I thought he had more integrity than that. Or, more likely, I hoped he did. Comey's testimony was beyond the pale.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"I lied my ass off so the door couldnt hit it on the way out. Everyone was offering advice to that effect"

Roy Lofquist said...

“When you strike at a king, you must kill him.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Forget and ignore the lawyers and the law. They are irrelevant. This is serious shit here, folks.

My guess, Trump has the hammer. J. Edgar Hoover was, for many years, one of the most powerful men in America. He had files on everybody, but nobody knew just what he had. Fear of the unknown is the worst kind. Trump has hinted many times that he has the goods on people. Remember when he said that Comey had better hope there wasn't a recording of their meeting? Remember the panic, even international, when he threatened to declassify a bunch of stuff? No indictments. No impeachment. Not when Trump is wearing his Samson suit.

"One day, the Philistine leaders assemble in a temple for a religious sacrifice to Dagon, one of their most important deities, for having delivered Samson into their hands.[21][25] They summon Samson so that people can watch him perform for them. The temple is so crowded that people are even climbing onto the roof to watch—and all the rulers of the entire government of Philistia have gathered there too, some 3,000 people in all.[22][25][26] Samson is led into the temple, and he asks his captors to let him lean against the supporting pillars to rest. He prays for strength and God gives him strength to break the pillars, causing the temple to collapse, killing him and the people inside.[27]"

walter said...

Drago,
FWIW, Chuck seems to be moving into Boot's terrain with his (less frequent) posts of late.

Original Mike said...

"My guess, Trump has the hammer."

I'm beginning to think that Trump hasn't declassified because there's stuff in there that is bad for him. Why the hell should he care about the Brits who tried to take him down? The counter argument to this explanation is that it would have been leaked.

Perhaps there isn't anything in the redactions that help him, so better to keep people guessing.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

'Max Boot'

what Lefties want stamping on our face--forever

Ambrose said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

there was a bucket in the corner for excrement, but...

Comey's testimony was beyond the pale.

gadfly said...

Marcy Wheeler has some important notes that escaped Andy McCarthy's carefully skewed reporting typical of Fox News "Save the crook at all costs" spin:

SDNY notes that Cohen can’t play dumb about campaign finance law because of his 2011 run-in with the law.
To the extent that Cohen and his sole client, Individual-1, committed campaign finance crimes in 2016 — especially the corporate funding of campaign activities — they can’t claim to be ignorant, because they only narrowly avoided proceedings on precisely this point in 2013.

That’s all the more true given that [Don McGahn got Trump and Cohen off the hook in 2013 as] FEC commissioner was [Trump's 2016] campaign lawyer.

[From the SDNY charging document:]

Cohen’s commission of two campaign finance crimes on the eve of the 2016 election for President of the United States struck a blow to one of the core goals of the federal campaign finance laws: transparency. While many Americans who desired a particular outcome to the election knocked on doors, toiled at phone banks, or found any number of other legal ways to make their voices heard, Cohen sought to influence the election from the shadows. He did so by orchestrating secret and illegal payments to silence two women who otherwise would have made public their alleged extramarital affairs with Individual-1. In the process, Cohen deceived the voting public by hiding alleged facts that he believed would have had a substantial effect on the election.

It is this type of harm that Congress sought to prevent when it imposed limits on individual contributions to candidates. To promote transparency and prevent wealthy individuals like Cohen from circumventing these limits, Congress prohibited individuals from making expenditures on behalf of and coordinated with candidates. Cohen clouded a process that Congress has painstakingly sought to keep transparent. The sentence imposed should reflect the seriousness of Cohen’s brazen violations of the election laws and attempt to counter the public cynicism that may arise when individuals like Cohen act as if the political process belongs to the rich and powerful.

Cohen’s submission suggests that this was but a brief error in judgment. Not so. Cohen knew exactly where the line was, and he chose deliberately and repeatedly to cross it. Indeed, he was a licensed attorney with significant political experience and a history of campaign donations, and who was well-aware of the election laws. ... In fact, Cohen publicly and privately took credit for Individual-1’s political success, claiming – in a conversation that he secretly recorded – that he “started the whole thing . . . started the whole campaign” in 2012 when Individual-1 expressed an interest in running for President. Moreover, not only was Cohen well aware of what he was doing, but he used sophisticated tactics to conceal his misconduct.

Cohen was previously the subject of an FEC complaint for making unlawful contributions to Donald Trump’s nascent campaign for the 2012 presidency. The complaint was dismissed for jurisdictional reasons, but it certainly put Cohen on notice of the applicable campaign finance regulations. See In the Matter of Donald J. Trump, Michael Cohen, et al., MUR 6462 (Sept. 18, 2013).

Drago said...

OM: "@Drago - I thought he had more integrity than that. Or, more likely, I hoped he did. Comey's testimony was beyond the pale."

LLR Chuck does not have more integrity than that. He never did. He never will. It is just a matter of time before LLR Chuck decides he might as well come clean and stop pretending he ever was a conservative.

Assuming he ever was.

Which is in doubt.

Not that it matters in the slightest. Because it doesn't.

Drago said...

And it looks like the LLR Chuck JV team, comprised of gadfly, has decided to make an appearance.

Hilarity is sure to ensue.

Drago said...

OM: "I'm beginning to think that Trump hasn't declassified because there's stuff in there that is bad for him"

It has been widely reported by sources that actually talk to real republicans and are not in the Brian Stelter/LLR Chuck/LLR Chuck JR (gadfly) camp that Trump is simply attempting to avoid giving the dems a talking point re: obstruction by declassifying and releasing.

But that its not going to last forever and Trump will in fact release all of these documents.

We are still 2 years away from the next election where LLR Chuck will do everything in his power to return his beloved dems to power, so Trump has time to wait still....

gadfly said...

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Mueller makes calculated leak from investigation he is heading. Comey leaks that he suspected Giuliani was leaking FBI information.

Neither are "leaks." Bobby Mueller submitted reports applicable to the current court review on SDNY's Cohen charges while Jim Comey responded to questions at the (Republican only) House Judiciary Committee's hearing.

Original Mike said...

"Jim Comey responded to questions at the (Republican only) House Judiciary Committee's hearing."

That's awful that the Republicans wouldn't let the Democrats attend.

Drago said...

The Incredibly Sad Little Creature-Poster Known as gadfly: "Neither are "leaks." Bobby Mueller submitted reports applicable to the current court review on SDNY's Cohen charges while Jim Comey responded to questions at the (Republican only) House Judiciary Committee's hearing."


EXECUTIVE SESSION
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY,
JOINT WITH THE
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT,
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
INTERVIEW OF: JAMES COMEY

Friday, December 7, 2018
Washington, D.C.
The interview in the above matter was held in Room 2141,
Rayburn House Office Building, commencing at 10:12 a.m.
Members Present: Representatives Goodlatte, Issa, King,
Gohmert, Jordan, Buck, Ratcliffe, Gaetz, Biggs, Nadler, Jackson
Lee, Cohen, Deutch, Bass, Gowdy, Sanford, Meadows, Hurd, Cummings, Cooper, Krishnamoorthi, Gomez, and Plaskett."

Thank you for playing gadfly.

Now go drink your milk, eat your cookie, and take a nap.

Drago said...

gadfly decided now was as good a time as any to go fully Freder/LLR Chuck.

And why not really?

gadfly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
narciso said...

its the mark felt strategy, he leaked everything that was in the grand jury, to woodward and Bernstein, because he had been passed over for promotion, McCabe authorized strzok to leak to devlin barrett (then at the journal, now at the post) to cover up how he had been supervising the extant Clinton investigation,

narciso said...

which he had a clear conflict, of course there is the whole fusion gps matter, and crowdstrike, making it look like there was fire rather than smoke, officials who sought to follow up the previous inquiry was ridiculed via barrett and other outlets,

narciso said...

as I pointed out in the headline from 1934, it's only a matter of time,

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/253983

narciso said...

tandem with the news from florida,


https://www.postandcourier.com/business/qatar-investment-group-making-another-visit-to-charleston-region/article_723cf062-381d-11e8-bf67-738625e8c595.html


I'm guessing either bob ingle or trey gowdy,


Big Mike said...

I wonder how many were just killed in freak accidents or suicides?

Suicide by gunshot wound. To the back of the head. Multiple ones.

narciso said...

like three days of the condor, which had a whole different conspiracy motivation in the original six days, instead of a Edward luttvak takeover of the kingdom it was a drug smuggling operation,

MikeR said...

"Let Mueller come out with a complete report. Lay out all the evidence, and let Trump and his people provide their context and argument, and I will pay attention again." Exactly. Wake me up when something happens. Opinion pieces are not something.

Original Mike said...

I'll be surprised if Mueller ever comes out with a complete report.

PackerBronco said...

Mueller's executive summary has just leaked. Here's an excerpt:

"They have committed false report;
moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily,
they are slanders; sixth and lastly, they have
belied a lady; thirdly, they have verified unjust
things; and, to conclude, they are lying knaves."

Trump has already responded, claiming it's "Much Ado About Nothing".

David Duffy said...

It's not a bad idea to start a hostile investigation after every presidential election. I have limited trust in the media because they have limited access to information and have usually chosen the good guys and bad guys before they begin to investigate.


Let every president know that when they are elected there will begin a partisan DOJ investigation, with unlimited access to information and sanctioned ability to thumbscrew witnesses, into everything they have done since birth. Let people like the Clintons, the Obamas, the Bushes, know that everything they have done to gain power will be made known to an apathetic, half-crazed American people. Let all who want the adulation of the citizens know their fickle emotions and petty grievances.

narciso said...

Except for Obama there was some of this, Morrison Walsh Seymour Stein for Reagan.
Fiske Starr Weingarten for Clinton

Original Mike said...

Blogger Dave Duffy said..."It's not a bad idea to start a hostile investigation after every presidential election. I have limited trust in the media because they have limited access to information and have usually chosen the good guys and bad guys before they begin to investigate."

You trust the DOJ?

David Duffy said...

Trust? Of course not. That's not the point. I want a partisan "independent" counsel that is vindictive and malicious. I want the counsel to dig up every tasty morsel of gossip. I want anyone who even had a ten minute conversation with the president to not only be ruined financially, but utterly destroyed in reputation, sent to jail, and their family cowering behind a fortified bunker from the mob. I want justice.

Bruce Hayden said...

"Tells House Panel He Suspected Giuliani Was Leaking FBI Info to Media..."

The same Rudi Giuliani who represents the President against Mueller? And mighty convenient that Comey, Mueller, et al can apparently leak such information to the press with impunity, while the President's lawyer, operating in his name cannot, esp since the legal power to waive classification and the like, and relaying such information to the media, is an Executive power, belonging to the President, and is selectively delegated to his employees (which, of course, it never was done for Mueller, and in some cases wasn't done for Comey). In short, Mueller's leaks were almost assuredly illegal, not having been authorized, directly, indirectly, or implicitly, by the President. Some of Comey's weren't either. But Trump's attorney is standing in his shoes, which provides some authorization to act in his name.

Bruce Hayden said...

Let me amplify my previous post a bit. Not every government employee is authorize to speak for the government, which is part of what leaking is. Moreover, not every government employee is authorized to declassify information or release otherwise secret government information. Indeed, that power is very rare for government employees. The default, the rule for 99% of government employees, is that they cannot legally do any of the above. There are rules and regulations in the various departments, and government wide, outlining the rare exceptions. Mueller, an inferior officer, is clearly violating DoJ rules and regulations by his leaks, as well as some of his statements, to the media, which translates into the commission of crimes, unless authorized by DAG Rosenstein, his supervisor. Comey, as FBI Director, a principal officer, had more authority to communicate with the media, whether openly, or via leaks. He lost that authority when he was fired, so anything that is secret or classified that he learned then, but disclosed later, is very likely illegal. Needless to say, some of his leaks, such as those he made of conversations with the President, were well above his pay grade to authorize, and were thus unauthorized, and illegal. And both, of course, are also bound by NDAs, which they have seemingly breached. The one person in the Executive branch of the government that this doesn't apply to, whatsoever, is the sitting President. That is because this is an Executive power, reserved in its entirety to him by the first paragraph of Article II of our Constitution. And sometimes he delegates this power, in its entirety, to his VP, as GW Bush apparently did to Cheney. And I would suggest that anyone who believes that Mueller and Comey should be legally able to leak with impunity, or that the President cannot, or that he is somehow bound by the classification decisions made by his underlings, doesn't believe in following our Constitution. But, of course, since that is the trans generational agreement under which our government derives its power, they believe in autocratic rule, and not rule based on the consent of the governed.

Bruce Hayden said...

Do they seriously want to delve too deeply into campaign finance violations? I would suggest that that would be unwise. Think about it for a minute - who is more likely to have broken campaign finance law - the candidate who significantly self funded? Or the candidate so cheap that she and her husband used to claim their used underwear as charitable donations on their tax returns? Who appears to have funded a significant portion of her daughter's wedding through a charitable foundation that she, her husband, and that daughter control? Whose husband's campaigns solicited contributions from foreign nationals, notably from Chinese nationals?

We know already of a number of campaign finance violations already on the part of Clinton's campaign. One was the funneling of campaign funds through their law firm, to Fusion GPS, and thence onto foreigners such as Christopher Steele for opposition research. But very likely more significant were the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by flushing large contributions, often up to 40x the legal limits through 40 or so state Democratic parties, and back ultimately to her campaign. A number of these state parties would send checks back the same day, or the next in identical amounts to what they had just received. So instead of being limited to a bit more than $2k, these big donors were writing single checks for USPTO maybe $100k, that would, within a day or two, end up in the Clinton campaign. Making things worse, for the first time in memory, her Presidential campaign had effective day to day control over the DNC, thanks to the money that they loaned the DNC. The Clinton campaign was funding much of the daily operation of the DNC, and the agreement the two made for this cave the campaign committee that control. Which means that the DNC was operating as an alter ego, or subsidiary of the Clinton campaign, instead of quasi independently, which means that they were effectively the same legal entity from the point of view of campaign laws.

Which is part of why Mueller and tge Democrats really shouldn't want to go down this road.

Qwinn said...

My favorite "freak accident" was the Clinton associate that was found decapitated. It was ruled death by natural causes. How did that investigation go? "We were talking... everything was fine... then his head just...slid... off."?

Rusty said...

Blogger Dave Duffy said...
"Trust? Of course not. That's not the point. I want a partisan "independent" counsel that is vindictive and malicious. I want the counsel to dig up every tasty morsel of gossip. I want anyone who even had a ten minute conversation with the president to not only be ruined financially, but utterly destroyed in reputation, sent to jail, and their family cowering behind a fortified bunker from the mob. I want justice."

No you don't. You want revenge.
Its doubtful you even know why.

jr565 said...

The charges against trump are baseless. (Even though, technically, they haven’t indicted him or charged him).its not a campaign finance violation, and even if it was, thst wouldn’t be a high crime or misdemeanor. The degree to which democrats think this overkill is justified says so much about the democrats, if they can’t get him on Russian collusion, they’ll get him on anything. They’ll argue that flynn needs to be monitored and removed Becaise he “violated the Logan act” even thoug, when John Kerry vioat s the Logan Act no one gives a shit. When it’s flynn lying to the FBI they will throw the book at him, even if the FBI said they didn’t honk he lied. But when it’s hillary they won’t question her under oath, or record the conversation.
And when it’s the FISA warrant and Steele dossier they have their hands over their eyes as to who brought it to them. Or whether it was actually corroborated. And comey is allowed to express his lack of knowledge about all of it with no push back from the media. He was the head of the FBI. How would he not have any information about what they were doing With this Democratic oppo research? Since they did get warrants out of it. And then he will idea that anything iuntowrad occured is crazy talk. How would he know? He just spent an entire session expressing his lack of knowledge. So, how would he know that nothing untoward occured?

The fix is in, folks.

David Duffy said...

Rusty,

My comment was sarcasm. If there is a vindictive and partisan investigation appointed after every election, the results will be the same. Someone, somewhere, will have violated one of the many laws regarding elections and taxes. The up side is that corruption is exposed. The down side is ordinary citizens become criminals according to the discretion of the investigator.