A longtime friend of President* Trump said on Monday that Mr. Trump was considering whether to fire Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating possible ties between the president’s campaign and Russian officials.Newt Gingrich, one of the premier political assholes in the world, was on morning television trying to walk back his former praise of Mueller. He also couldn't explain why it was OK for Kenn Starr, an avowed Republican, to investigate Bill Clinton but it's not OK for Mueller who has been appointed in the past to jobs by presidents from both parties, to investigate Trump.
The startling assertion comes as some of Mr. Trump’s conservative allies, who initially praised Mr. Mueller’s selection as special counsel, have begun trying to attack his credibility.
The friend, Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax Media, who was at the White House on Monday, said on PBS’s “NewsHour” that Mr. Trump was “considering, perhaps, terminating the special counsel.”
Gingrich's whine was that special counsels end up getting innocent people. Right, like Scooter Libby, whom Gingrich specifically referred to, who was so innocent that he got convicted and was so simon-pure that President Bush didn't pardon him.
Trump's efforts to shut down the investigation by any means possible is a petty good signal that there is something really serious to be uncovered. Republicans' winking at all this because Trump is their guy is even more unseemly than Democrats' winking at Bill Clinton's misdeeds. Clinton's problems were about sex and lies. Trump's is about treason, lies, and covering up.
15 comments:
The mind boggles at the possibility that ANY politician thinks for a second that firing the Special Counsel would be a good idea. Donnie clearly doesn't understand and doesn't care. But he has advisors that must see the bear trap, unless they are too scared to say anything. Perhaps Donnie did give Priebus till July 4th to clean things up, and by saying nothing and letting Donnie walk the plank, Reince is gonna clean it up?
I'm fascinated by the dynamics of this mess. Ryan and The Turtle aren't going to warn off Donnie, because they see Pence as an upgrade. I really can't imagine any scenario where Donnie stays in office if he fires Mueller. To do nothing would condemn the R's to a blistering defeat in the 2018 mid-terms, possibly historically so, and they simply are not THAT dumb, I think. However, the fact that some R's have started walking back their previous support of Mueller is interesting, maybe they are that dumb?
Not saying that it would be a good idea.
But at what point does "I can't find anything and there is no evidence that what the DNC and the Media (but i repeat myself) keeps saying is patently made of whole cloth" enough?
If there was anything to find, one would have thought that at least a shred would have been found by now, what with everyone in the Federal Government trying to harm him and all...unless they are as incompetent as they appear to be?
At this point, the DNC has gotten their goal. The lies and false accusations have taken a life of their own through repetition and are now inhibiting his ability to govern. Which has been their goal, isn't it?
Tit for tat is what I think it's called. Remember McConnell's statement that the Republican's goal was to make Obama a one term president? Now that the other side is copying your playbook, it's wrong? Is that what is called irony?
Dale
D: I agree, up to a point. But at some point, they did allow Barry to govern. When will the DNC back off?
This "Russian" thing is wearing thin.
And, while I despise such behavior, the shitkicking started by the DNC folks on GWB, (or even earlier, seems that respect on both sides has declined greatly).
THis is an unprecedented level of attack.
Having said that, your point is well taken.
Er, B., the usual timeline for an independent counsel investigation is two to three years. Wishing that the issue gets closed and buried after a month is a little crazy. Given that the people doing the investigation are competent, legal types, who know that leaking anything may compromise future witnesses, the statement that nothing has been found yet is ridiculous. This, like (for instance) Whitewater, will be the subject of great press speculation on the little pieces that partisans put out there, but the facts will eventually be laid out in a clear timeline with explicit evidence. At that point, and only at that point, can a judgement be made.
The bed that the Republican's are lying in is a direct consequence of the lengths that Republicans contorted the "Whitewater Affair" to in an effort to kill health care reform in the 1990's. Reagan, for all his flaws, understood the concept of working WITH the opposition to deliver results, since that time, we have seen a more and more partisan divide that can no longer be safely bridged. The results of this are coming home to roost, and the future is unclear.
Whitewater, at least, had some basis in fact, and there was a series of events that could be pointed to and used as a base.
There is nothing like that here except a meme put forth by the DNC and the media.
Were there one single fact, I would agree with you and accept that an investigation should take place. There is nothing concrete except a statement that the"russians" have done something...although what that something is has not been revealed.
I ask, again: What, exactly are the "Russians" supposed to have done that requires investigation of anyone? "Interference"....? What and/or how? The DNC claims a server was hacked, but they have withheld that server from investigation by the FBI in order to prove their claims. So, again, what is supposed to have been done and what evidence is there?
Please, be specific and show a link, even if it is tenuous.
I'd really like to know.
And here's the difference B., I'm answering your request.
1) Individuals deeply involved with the Trump Campaign omitted meeting/contacts with Russians, under oath.
2) Russia spent the 18 months running up to the election probing and hacking election systems across the U.S.
3) There are proven links between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank, while these links are denied.
4) Active attempts to manipulate voters, even down to the macro level using Facebook, have been linked to FSB associated hackers.
5) The RNC and the DNC were hacked from the same source, but only DNC data was released.
Several facts in there for you.
And no smoking gun though, sorry.
All implied or innuendo.
So what actions are they "Investigating"?
Cause I don't see any actions or facts to investigate.
They may be there, but none have been shown.
Again, in Whitewater, we had actions and a coverup.
There isn't anything like that here, today.....and if there is anything, why hasn't it come to light after all this time?
Read my above note on the average length of an investigation. Fervently wishing there is nothing there isn't the same as there being nothing there.
So once again, you miss my point. What is the basis for the investigation. What crime has been committed? What, exactly did the "Russians" supposedly do?
What reason is there for a years long, multimillion dollar investigation besides a vague accusation that there must have been some tapering by "the Russians"...Exactly what was tampered with?
You want a fishing expedition. I want to know what basis there is to think there are fish in the pond.
For one thing the Russians hacked into the voter roll software in 39 states.
Then there's this:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/how-the-trump-russia-data-machine-games-google-to.html
h/t: Susie Madrak's blog.
You have to read to the bottom to get to the collusion part.
And as for the "THis is an unprecedented level of attack" BS, do you remember a gentleman named Newton Leroy Gingrich? Or a little project of his called GOPAC? Or a little memo he put out in 1996 titled (IIRC) "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control" that did more to destroy the possibility of anyone cooperating with a member of the other party than anything that had come before, or maybe since?
Mueller's hired some no nonsense professionals to conduct the investigation, so if there's anything wrong, we'll most likely find out about it in due time, and if not? We'll find out about that.
One could question the wisdom and competence of anyone wanting to be president who picked the sort of fights with those guys that president four-year-old has, much less someone who stubbornly refused to learn that when faced with the consequences of not doing so.
-Doug in Oakland
D:
Interesting.
And yet, the article fails to mention that this is exactly what the LEfT did as well. And it is exactly what I have been saying. The DNC created the meme of "Russian Collusion" and pushed it. And they had the Media on their side.
The article fails to admit that the news is manipulated and has been for many years. THat the SEO optimization was done for the DNC folks too, and the story about the 'russians" was pushed by a sympathetic media.
So, again, what did the "Russians" do that changed the elections what 'collusion" did the Trump folks do?
What crime, exactly, is Mueller gonna investigate? Or is he gonna go on a witch hunt until he finds something to satisfy his masters? There are, at this time, no concrete allegations of wrongdoing. Just some vague suggestions abut the "russians".
No one knows for sure if it was the "russians" that hacked the DNC....'Cause no law enforcement has examined the server. Odd, that. All we know is that the DNC says it was the "russians".
Obstruction of justice, for one. Money laundering seems to be a focus, also, going by the staff Mueller is hiring.
And if the DNC was doing the same SEO, as you claim, why didn't any of their results show up on the first four pages of search results?
And I get it. You're not gonna believe anything bad about your guy, and you're gonna project every accusation leveled at him back at the Democrats. Standard Republican operating procedure since the nineties.
That might be effective as a tactic, but it doesn't make it right. Reality still exists, despite president four-year-old's worst efforts at suppressing it with his lies and gaslighting, and hopefully this investigation will get to the bottom of it.
Meanwhile, ongoing investigations do not reveal what they are trying to do or what they've found so far, so you don't get definitive answers to your questions yet.
If your guy didn't want to be investigated, he could have behaved himself in a manner befitting a presidential candidate. It wouldn't have been that hard, his party has control of the entire government.
-Doug in Oakland
D:
I'm asking for some proof. Reality is what it is, and the chips will fall where they do.
I'm gonna believe what is proved, not what innuendo the DNC gets to spread via the (helpful) media.
"~you're gonna project every accusation leveled at him back at the Democrats. Standard Republican operating procedure since the nineties."
All I'm saying is the rules should be the same for everyone. You make it like the DNC is completely clean. They aren't. I'm not saying Trump is either, only that I want more than what the DNC folks are saying. There isn't any fire so far, and the only smoke is what they are blowing.
What behavior would you have him do? Act like Barry and do what the extremists in the DNC told him to do? What should Trump have done? The DNC was gonna keep pushing until they got their witch hunt. Check into the "Russian" meme and you'll find it has no source except the DNC controlled folks and the Media who repeated it until they could get this started.
This no substance to the Meme of "The Russians". It is only what the DNC and their Media has been repeating. There is NO, NADA,ZERO, evidence that athere was any illegalities in the election except voter fraud in Blue cities. The "Russians" meme came from the DNC, and they won't even let the FBI investigate the claims that "The Russians" were the ones that got into the DNC server. Why won';t they let the FBI investigate?
Again, what exactly, besides a fishing expedition, is Mueller investigating?
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