June 14, 2019

"As Trump told Stephanopoulos, there is nothing wrong with listening to information that anyone, foreign or domestic, might have that is relevant to a presidential candidate."

"But what is blindingly obvious, yet absent from every Democratic Party news account feigning horror at the ABC interview, is that the Hillary Clinton campaign didn’t just receive 'foreign dirt' on the Trump campaign. It paid for foreign sources to fabricate lies about Trump, which it then disseminated to the press. Listen to 'foreign dirt'? The Clinton [campaign] paid for it!"

Writes John Hinderaker (at Power Line).

87 comments:

Amadeus 48 said...

Amen, brother. Amen, sister.

tim in vermont said...

You forgot the most important consideration: Hillary had her presidency robbed from her by this usurper.

David Begley said...

What Hillary has gotten away with is astounding. Here’s hoping Dunham in Connecticut gets some convictions and the whole story is revealed.

tim in vermont said...

One of Shakespeare’s themes was that usurping the crown from its rightful owner is fraught with moral and physical peril. “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” said Henry IV, who usurped Richard II’s throne.

Birkel said...

And Trump got all the Democrats on record decrying what Hillary did.
Stable.
Genius.

Howard said...

So Hitlery is the standard for righteous behavior. Lock them up!

FleetUSA said...

Yes, DB, the list of BJ & Hill Clinton'$ crimes is very long. Any normal American would be in jail and bankrupt.

TreeJoe said...

The Clinton campaign not only did that, they have now painted a picture to any foreign power of the proper mechanisms to get fabrications used by the highest levels of DOJ/FBI to obtain court approval to conduct surveillance. They painted a picture on how to abuse our own "checks and balances" system in a presidential election.

I read stories on CNN about how the Administration's claims about Iran's attack are not yet credible because Trump and his admin have a history of lying. But I see nothing from CNN or the like about how:

- Trump claimed his campaign was wiretapped/trump tower was surveilled during the election. The "News" trumpeted that he was wrong, he was lying, and mocked him. And he was proven right. No credit given.

- Trump called the Mueller investigation a political witch hunt. The "News" trumpeted he was wrong, he was lying, he was obstructing, and mocked him. And he was proven right - the Mueller investigation was fraudulently launched on a premise created through a cut-out effort paid for by the clinton campaign. It was a witch hunt....

And on and on....

Once upon a time i coulda kinda sorta see the point that Trump calling the mainstream media the enemy of the american people was dangerous to our country to some extent.

Not anymore. And most of all, not since the headlines on the attack of the oil tankers was spun as somehow Trump escalating in the middle east after being the first president in 18 years to work hard for half his term (so far) to de-escalate the middle east.

Rick said...

I hope Trump is this direct in the debates when a large group of people who generally avoid political news are listening. Normal Americans dislike the left intensely (see the Oberlin verdict) but the media successfully obscures the left's true nature level of influence far too often. So too many people continue to believe this level of corruption can't exist because if it did surely it would be a huge story. They don't understand the media is a public relations operation rather than a news operation.

Narayanan said...

Blogger Birkel said...
And Trump got all the Democrats on record decrying what Hillary did.
Stable.
Genius.

So does that mean Hillary will not be able to run again?

rhhardin said...

The point is the outrage, not the logic.

rhhardin said...

Bringing up Hillary is a mistake. The idea that you can't listen to a foreigner is ridiculous on its face. Hillary-was-worse accepts the ridiculous premise.

tim in vermont said...

Hillary is the reigning standard bearer of the Democrat Party as of this moment. She was the alternative to Trump that the oldest political party in the oldest democracy offered America. It’s not like we are arguing about the ancient past.

Rick said...

Hillary-was-worse accepts the ridiculous premise.

No it doesn't. The fact that Hillary was worse and the left defended her actions shows even the left does not believe their own accusations.

tim in vermont said...

The idea that you can't listen to a foreigner is ridiculous on its face.

That’s true, but the people proclaiming this the loudest are the same people who ignore the same behavior from their own party. Remember, it wasn’t just Hillary, it was the DNC as well that paid foreigners to lie about Trump.

One would hope that the shame of that fact would shut them up, but relying on shame when dealing with Democrats is a fool’s errand.

Kevin said...

Not only did Trump not do what he’s accused of doing, Hillary did do what he’s accused of doing.

And the media is fixated on ending his Presidency for what Hillary did.

traditionalguy said...

The more we learn about the Criminal Conspiracy run inside our Federal Government by Clinton and Obama Gangs and calling itself the Democrat Party, the more Trump looks like the only ethical pro-democracy official to come within 100 miles of DC in the last 30 years.

There has to be a great come to Jesus meeting in the near future. Thousands of arrests and Military Tribunals are inevitable. And our President can do the 2020 election during this Civil War just like Lincoln did the 1864 election while Sherman and Grant had his back.

JPS said...

Birkel, 6:24: Now I wish he’d said, “I would not only listen, I would pay for it. Through an intermediary of course.”

tim in vermont said...

The other fool’s errand is to depend on the Democrats having any sense of irony.

Narayanan said...

Does Hillary have chutzpah after what Trump said that she is the one who has come through fire 🔥 and still have unscorched pants on!!

You betcha.

Go Hillary.
Go H->r

Leland said...

The media is setting new standards for dope in this Trump rope a dope.

tim in vermont said...

Trump’s crime was failure to set up shell corporations, the way the DNC did, I guess.

Were I a Democrat, I would be furious with my own party for allowing itself to be so corrupted by the Clintons. First denying my apparently not so deeply held beliefs about rape and sexual harassment, then looking the other way from obvious corruption.

But Democrats seem happiest when fed talking points that are only remotely plausible if you ignore enough reality. Fortunately for them, they have a news media happy to protect their cocoon.

whitney said...

Doesn't matter. Everyone's locked into their positions now. You're either in the Trump evil crowd or Trump not evil crowd. Perhaps the structure can survive past Trump but the divisions will remain. The gulf is too wide, violence is going to be met with violence and Chaos will ensue. All the symptoms of late-stage Empire are around us. It will be different than the other falls but there will be similarities. No amount of preparation will save you because preparation is based on predicting the future and predictability will be lost first.

Kevin said...

Perhaps this whole thing is because the Dems are even more outraged at Bill and Hillary than the rest of us, but know the party’s future depends on them shutting up about it.

“Psychological projection is a defence mechanism in which the human ego defends itself against unconscious impulses or qualities (both positive and negative) by denying their existence in themselves while attributing them to others.”

At any rate, the Democrat Party is so mentally damaged it can no longer be placed in a position of responsibility or operate heavy equipment.

Narayanan said...

**The media is setting new standards for dope in this Trump rope a dope.**

Mittens first to wear rope necklace he's always me first. And here come the cucks ...

iowan2 said...

Birkel, 6:24: Now I wish he’d said, “I would not only listen, I would pay for it. Through an intermediary of course.”

That's what I would have said. Maybe that is exactly what President Trump did say. ABC was in charge of showing the parts they wanted. Remember this interview took place over two days. President Trump is smart enough to understand, to get his message out to all the people, he had to make it really juicy. Also, he has to give cover to Don Jr. Still being questioned about the Trump Tower meeting. "Of course its legal to take a meeting,we took a meeting, it was legal"

tim in vermont said...

“Feigning horror.” Exactly.

Birkel said...

Look, everybody!
Whitney wrote some stupid shit.

henge2243 said...

I do hope that all of the dirty laundry about what the Obama Administration did, what the Clinton Campaign did and what the “Intelligence” Agencies did gets aired out. I hope for this not so that people will be prosecuted butt Do that these people are disgraced as they should be and we are not subjected to their thoughts and opinions anymore. They are not millennials but they act like they are. They are losers but they are waiting for the trophy to which they think they are entitled.

Kevin said...

Shorter Stephanopoulos (heh): it’s OK for Hillary to pay for lies but illegal for Trump to hear the truth.

iowan2 said...

they have now painted a picture to any foreign power of the proper mechanisms to get fabrications used by the highest levels of DOJ/FBI to obtain court approval to conduct surveillance.

Foreign powers do not have any insight into forcing a US investigation. Unless you mean that Comey and the rest of the management team of the FBI were put in place by foreign powers.

This little coup was designed and executed by officials at the highest levels. Foreign powers had no connection.

Anonymous said...

Another day, another phoney-baloney freakout over another ginned-up "scandal".

Birkel said...

Shorter Stephanopoulos! That made me guffaw.

What a deeply unserious person a shorter Stephanopoulos* would be.

gilbar said...

i Don't see the connection?
according to the Single Standard; Anything Republicans do is bad, Anything Democrats do is fine.
So, what's y'alls point? That the the Republicans are Bad? and the Democrats are Good?
We all already Knew that!

tim in vermont said...

It would be a better world if Republicans were always interviewed by former Democrat Party operatives.... wait, they are! AND Democrats were always interviewed by former Republican Party operatives. That will never happen, look what happened to Clinton sycophant Matt Laur. He probably drank so deeply from the Kool-Aide well that he thought that Hillary had an honest answer for his question!

tim in vermont said...

Democrats are better because for every standard Republicans have, Democrats have at least two!

tim in vermont said...

Foreign powers had no connection.

Except that the lies were told by foreign spies and MI6 was involved in surveillance.

wendybar said...

Again, THIS doesn't fit the propagandists of the left wing media's agenda. They won't report all the facts. If they don't report it, it didn't happen.

narciso said...

One of these days well discover where that yellowcake went


https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?fbclid=IwAR15AXPrqeNsIqL8XfNoDib1ZRAoUYWKWmHNRGUiA0jLSSc-_FfwhWjZDqc

Hagar said...

Let's keep to the subject, and it isn't Hillary!'s sins for this post.

No. 1 is "turnabout is fair play," and no state does more to "interfere" in other states' internal affairs, including elections, than the United States does in modern times. It comes with being the world's No. 1 "superpower" with private and official interests in every nook and cranny of the world.

No. 2 is that every state will try to "interfere" to promote its interests in every other state where it has one, and just about every state in the world has an interest in what the U.S. is doing and/or might do next. That is the mirror image of the first point.

For the particular point in question, Trump just said he would listen to whatever this hypothetical foreign government agency had to say, and then decide what, if anything, to do about it. The world is full of worthless rumors, but then there might be some that could be useful for his campaign, and others that definitely should be passed on to the FBI for criminal prosecution, or other U.S. agencies whose interests might be affected.

F. ex., as a hypothetical, what if Veselnitskaya's mission originally had been to tell the Trump campaign of the dossier and how it had been concocted and passed around by whom? That would certainly have been of interest to the FBI under normal circumstances.
Hypothetically again, let us imagine that hurried orders to the contrary came down, and that is why she was stumped for anything to say when the infamous meeting finally took place, so that there really was not anything to report.

iowan2 said...

Foreign powers had no connection.

Except that the lies were told by foreign spies and MI6 was involved in surveillance.


Yes, I forgot the role OUR ALLIES had in the coup. Although, I think they are suffering from their involvement. They are in debt to President Trump from their poor choices, and placing any trust in the likes of Brennen and Clapper. Those foreign spooks have done serious damage to the relationships with the US. It will never get any coverage. But its a bad situation. Who would want to be in position of being in debt to Donald Trump

tds said...

Democrats 2016:

MeToo is important! Believe all women! Btw, our candidate is Hillary with well documented history of not believing harassed women
Links to foreign governments are bad! Btw, our candidate is Hillary with Clinton foundation literally taking money from weirdo foreign govs
Where are Trump's health records! He's fat and in bad health! Btw, our candidate is Hillary literally being carried into a car by her bodyguards
Trump is a loose cannon! Btw, our candidate is Hillary ordering a bathroom e-mail server for top secret communication
Little people are getting shafted! Lobbing by big money is bad! Btw, our candidate is Hillary taking fat checks for speeches of dubious quality from Goldman Sachs and the like

tim in vermont said...

Let's keep to the subject, and it isn't Hillary!'s sins for this post.

The post is about the "feigned horror" at Trump’s suggestion, so supporting evidence that the horror is indeed feigned is on topic.

It is self evident that getting true facts before the electorate, regardless of the source is a good thing for a democracy. there is not even anything to discuss there.

narciso said...

Oh really:
https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/13/media-matters-steele-dossier-trump/

tim in vermont said...

Remember that the lies were fed to the British spy by Putin spies.

If you read the testimony from the Fusion GPS guy before Congress, he took it as an indicator of skullduggery that no deals were made by Trump in Moscow on some real estate deal, which only proved to him that they must REALLY be hiding something.

tim in vermont said...

Democrats have harshly condemned the president for his remarks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Trump’s statements as “appalling,” and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called them “un-American” and “disgraceful.”

This is why Hillary is on topic. Where were these people then? And Hillary misreported the money spent on the Dossier as “legal expenses.” Imagine what Mueller would have done to Trump on a slip like that.

tim in vermont said...

To be clear, I don’t have any problem with Hillary trying to dig dirt on Trump in Europe or anywhere else. My big problem is that the dirt was all lies, and the 5X5 MSM propaganda blast that turnabout is never fair play. If Trump was a Putin puppet, I would certainly want to know that, whatever the source, same as I am OK with reading leaked DNC memos that show how Hillary shivved Bernie in the primaries.

tim in vermont said...

I wonder if Pelosi and Schumer use “the method” to keep themselves from smirking too obviously when they make statements like that intended to mislead morons.

Wince said...

Although Trump was asked only about listening to derogatory information, arent some Democrats arguing Trump receiving such “opposition research” free of charge from a foreign source would be a campaign finance violation?

Do they really intend to defend Hillary by proclaiming she paid for hers?

narciso said...

They sold them a bag of magic beans, at cost to their dignity, lol, it probably was put together by Ukrainian famine denier Nellie ohr I'm not making this up.

Lucien said...

The payment is not a bug, but a feature. Payment means there was no in kind political contribution. On the other hand, if some foreign person had offered valuable information to Don JR., and if he had agreed to take it without paying, and if it had been delivered for free, then that might have counted as an illegal foreign contribution (First Amendment issues aside). The press takes no notice of the fact that those things didn’t happen.

Hagar said...

I don't see much evidence for "foreign spies." Mr. Steele was a retired former employee of MI6, who might just have been trying to make a little money, or perhaps a service for former friends by serving as a conduit for passing along the infamous dossier. It is claimed that it was compiled by the Russian FSB, but nowhere have I seen any evidence to back up this claim.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Name one president who did not take calls from foreign leaders. That’s right. You can’t. They all take calls from foreigners all the time. Of course, Obama would just wiretap Merkel to get dirt. Or wiretap Senators. But hey who has time to include that when they are so worried about Trump taking a call?

Michael K said...

It is claimed that it was compiled by the Russian FSB, but nowhere have I seen any evidence to back up this claim.

It is also claimed that Steele and Simpson made it up out of whole cloth, or that Sid Blumenthal wrote it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

By the way has Adam Schifty been censored by the House yet for taking that call from a Ukrainian selling dirt on Trump. We’ve all heard how eager Pencil Neck was to get his hands on that Kompromat.

narciso said...

Deripasha lent his list of contacts, remember I this began as a revenge play against Manafort it ended costing him about a billion dollars. Of course the kavalec memo suggests it's totally made up, surkov and truibnikov shirley

Jeff said...

Not only is there nothing wrong in listening to foreigner's intelligence about your opponent, there's also nothing wrong with paying for it. I can even understand hiding that payment by routing it through a law firm. (What that says about the ethics of the law firm is another matter.) But what's completely inexcusable and illegal is the FBI presenting information they had no reason to believe to a FISA court judge in order to get a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign. That's where the criminal act is, and we shouldn't be distracted by other stuff that's perfectly legal.

Michael K said...

Perhaps the structure can survive past Trump but the divisions will remain.

The divide began when Bush won the 2000 election. Gore went crazy and the Democrats went into defcon 1.

After that, interrupted briefly by 9/11, the hate campaign was on. the 2004 election ramped it up to 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.

The Rather hoax was only one example. I used to read leftist blogs. It became impossible in 2004.

The 2008 collapse, brought on by the left and its CRA-inspired real estate bubble, put Obama in office but Hillary was the guaranteed winner, until she wasn't. Hillarycare was a joke back in 1994. They never saw it coming.

Howard said...

You gotta share the ganja, doc. 8-years of Republican control before the crash and you blame the Dims. Not passing the straight face test.

Howard said...

The big fake divide is just Fox fueled propaganda. Most folks don't GAF

Gahrie said...

You gotta share the ganja, doc. 8-years of Republican control before the crash and you blame the Dims. Not passing the straight face test.

Yeah it had nothing to do with the laws passed by Democrats in Congress forcing the banks to make sweetheart loans to people who could obviously never repay them.

Browndog said...

NEW: Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn has blocked an effort by Sen. Mark Warner to pass a bill via unanimous consent requiring campaigns to report any offers of foreign assistance to the FBI

How long before liberals demand Blackburn be investigated?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

How typical of Howard to blame Fox News. It’s not like the other media entities are at war with Trump or anything. I mean it’s not like there’s an organized, say resistánce, that many in the are part of. It’s not like the NYT declared they had to abandon long held journalistic principles in order to totally oppose Trump.

Oh wait. It is EXACTLY like that. Pull your head out Howard. Google antifa for starters.

glenn said...

One of the coolest things Trump has done. What day of the week did he do it? Because according to my Dem friends on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Trump is an evil genius hell bent on destroying America. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday he’s a big dumb doo doo head.

Mike Sylwester said...

Many young liberals are watching this disgusting demagoguery and are deciding to become conservatives. That what I did when I was in my early twenties.

Ray - SoCal said...

Amazing coordinated attempted hit job on Trump.

Pelosi all ready to roll with a bill requiring this, msm attempting to create outrage, and all started by George Stephanopoulos.

Deja Vu on what George did to Romney with that birth control question.

Hagar said...

When is a "foreigner" a foreigner?
Chrysler is owned by the FIAT combo. Mazda is a subdivision of Ford. BP is headquartered in London, but is now majority US owned. And so it goes.

narciso said...

Yes they were the winners in the bailout, after the bankruptcy.

Greg P said...

Blogger Howard said...
You gotta share the ganja, doc. 8-years of Republican control before the crash and you blame the Dims. Not passing the straight face test.

Bush tried to impose some discipline on Fannie in 2005, and Democrats threw a shit fit.

The ganja is right there, in your hands. you're just so stoned you can't see it

mikee said...

What's really funny in all this is that Bernie is once again being the patsy in the Democrat primaries, with zero chance to win in the face of superdelegate selection of the candidate, while the rest of the mob takes turns presenting every possible attack against Trump as a means of test marketing for a general election theme. And here people sit worrying about a hypothetical question answered honestly bt Trump about something that is eclipsed in vileness by the documented, admitted, actual behavior of the last Dem candidate.

I recall McGovern versus Nixon. This election could be just as hilarious.

tim in vermont said...

There is no such thing as an ex spy.

Michael K said...

Blogger Howard said...
You gotta share the ganja, doc. 8-years of Republican control before the crash and you blame the Dims. Not passing the straight face test.


Well, at least we know that Howard was not involved in the real estate lending industry in the 90s.

Otherwise, he would have a clue about "liar loans" and "Flip this house!"

h said...

The anti-Trump commentariat the WaPo hold these thoughts simultaneously:

1. What Trump said about being willing to accept information from a foreign source is outrageous, possible impeachable.
2. The actions surrounding the Steele dossier are not a problem.

The important distinctions, according to these commenters are any or all of the following:

a. Trump referred to personal actions taken by the candidate. Hillary Clinton never personally contacted Steele.
b. Trump referred to information being offered by an agent of a foreign government. Steele was a private individual.
c. Trump referred to information offered by a foreign person who was a citizen of an "enemy" country. Steele was a citizen of the UK which is friendly to the US.
d. Trump referred to accepting information (something of value) without paying for it. Steele was paid for his information.
e. Trump referred to actions taken by a Republican. The Steele dossier was paid for by Democrats. (Ok, just kidding about this one.

I think it is true that the characterizations of what Trump said are mostly wrong. But that aside, are these distinctions actual legally important distinctions?

Bruce Hayden said...

Blogger Gahrie said...
“You gotta share the ganja, doc. 8-years of Republican control before the crash and you blame the Dims. Not passing the straight face test.”

“Yeah it had nothing to do with the laws passed by Democrats in Congress forcing the banks to make sweetheart loans to people who could obviously never repay them.”

The other thing to keep in mind is that Clinton installed a number of Clinton faithful at the helm of at least Fannie May. And Fannie May and Freddie Mac were the entities driving the liar loan, and thus subprime mortgage loan, scam. If those two entities had not been buying up, or at least insuring, all those bad loans, there probably wouldn’t have been the bubble that ultimately burst. It was only that the bad loans were federally guaranteed that made the whole scheme work.

Also, the GW Bush Administration did shout “fire” in regards to the pending collapse, but were repeatedly blocked in Congress by the Democrats.

Rosalyn C. said...

credit default swaps and mortgage backed securities...

Michael K said...

credit default swaps and mortgage backed securities...

I don't think Howard is up to those complicated subjects. Fannie and Freddie became Democrat pension plans.

gerry said...

At any rate, the Democrat Party is so mentally damaged it can no longer be placed in a position of responsibility or operate heavy equipment.

So very true. Evidence: Democrats think Biden is THE savior.

narciso said...

well margo Robbie's bubblebath and brad pitt being pensive in big short, which leaves out the whole government impetus is about his speed, but others might wonder why cassano lavished such lucre on dodd, biden and Obama,

Seeing Red said...

Bush tried to impose some discipline on Fannie in 2005, and Democrats threw a shit fit.

He wanted steel tariffs, too.

And a teeny tiny amount of my SS under my control/direction.

narciso said...


https://www.barrons.com/articles/dow-jones-industrial-average-stuck-51560526609

Seeing Red said...

They’re spoiled. It happens.

Dude1394 said...

Just another reason why the faster the democrat propaganda media goes out of business the better for the country.

Jim at said...

The divide began when Bush won the 2000 election. Gore went crazy and the Democrats went into defcon 1.

Disagree. That was Stage Two.
They went apeshit when Republicans took control of the House in 1994.

Up until then - for more than 50 years - the Republicans would occasionally win the White House and/or take nominal control of the Senate. Losing the House put them over the edge.

Jim at said...

You gotta share the ganja, doc. 8-years of Republican control before the crash and you blame the Dims. Not passing the straight face test.

Bullshit. Democrats controlled the Senate for nearly half of George W. Bush's two terms and had complete control of both chambers the last two years.

Michael K said...

They went apeshit when Republicans took control of the House in 1994.

Disagree. The impeachment was a mistake but the Dims had lost a ton of seats and were kind of shellshocked.

Even Clinton said , "The era of big government is over." And "I'm still relevant."

They thought Gore would take it back. Even then, the obstructionism was delaying Bush's appointments until 9/11.

They really went nuts in 2004.

ccscientist said...

They are using the Logan Act phrase about "something of value" to refer to information, but that is crazy. Information is not something of value unless you pay for it, which the DNC did.

Michael The Magnificent said...

Leftists: So what, Hillary Bleach Bited her email server's hard drive, which was under subpoena at the time. Get over it! Move on, nothing to see here!

Also leftists: ZOMG, Trump threatened to fire investigators (yet didn't) looking into non-crimes based on bogus accusations! Impeach!

-------------------------

Leftists: So what, Hillary paid for bogus political dirt on her political opponents from a foreign source. Get over it! Move on, nothing to see here!

Also leftists: ZOMG, Trump said he'd be willing to accept dirt on his political opponents from a foreign source! Impeach!