Flynn in major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions

[boutons_deux]

Trump Is Under At Least 4 Different Lines Of Criminal And Civil Investigation

It isn’t just the Mueller investigation. There are at least four different lines of criminal and civil investigation into Donald Trump.

Hayes explained:

Until very recently we all focused on the office of the special counsel Robert Mueller and the investigation of Russia interference in the 2016 election. That’s already led to indictments or plea deals involving Michael Flynn, Paul manafort, Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos, a dozen Russian intelligence officers, more than a dozen Russian nationals, and three Russian companies.

Along the way, Mueller also referred the matter of Michael Cohen to the southern district of New York since Cohen’s crimes didn’t appear to come under the umbrella of Mueller’s Russia investigation.

But just look what that now has led to.

Not only to Michael Cohen pleading guilty to eight felony counts but to a criminal investigation which may implicate both the Trump Organization and certain unnamed executives who aided in the illegal hush money scheme.

That also led to a grant of immunity to “National Enquirer” publisher David Pecker and to Trump Organization CFO Allen Weissberg.

Meanwhile, the state of New York started its own line of inquiry.

They filed a civil suit against the Trump Foundation as well as referring its findings to both the IRS and the FEC,

which may or may not act on the information.

And now we know the Manhattan D.A. Is also eyeing the trump all this raises the question,

how likely is it that one or more of these lines of criminal and civil investigation will lead back to the man at the top, Donald Trump?

There are four different investigations into Trump right now with the potential to expand to six,

and this does not include congressional investigations.

If Democrats win back Congress, there could easily be 3-5 Congressional investigations into Donald Trump.

There could be as many as an unfathomable 9-13 investigations into Trump going on at the same time.

Trump likes to claim that the Russia investigation is a witch hunt, but

in reality what is unfolding is a manhunt for the felony implicated criminal who is occupying the Oval Office.

https://www.politicususa.com/2018/08...stigation.html

[boutons_deux]

NYT columnist Frank Bruni says Trump is ‘powerless and cornered’ and about to lash out like an animal

Frank Bruni said that President Donald Trump is

in a powerless situation after Allen Weisselberg the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.

On Friday, Bruni told CNN’s Erica Hill that

all of Trump’s secrets are about to be exposed

and that the president will ‘lash out’ in response.

“Donald Trump spent his life ac ulating secrets and

spending energy on nothing so much as keeping those things hidden and

cultivating and managing his image.

People who know things intimately, and

know him well are talking to investigators and prosecutors.

He has no control,” Bruni said.

He added,

“When Donald Trump feels vulnerable he lashes out and bites back.

I think the next couple days and weeks will be scary and utterly unpredictable.”

Bruni said that when President Trump is

“backed into a corner, everyone around him will tell you it’s when he lashes out.

That’s what Donald Trump does when he feels cornered.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/08/nyt...ike-an-animal/

[boutons_deux]

CIA's Kremlin sources go dark, hamstringing intelligence on Putin's midterm plans

Kremlin-linked informants who proved critical to American intelligence operations both during and after the 2016 elections have gone silent,

Officials say they don't think these sources have been killed.

Instead, they believe a combination of factors have pushed them further underground,

including Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to cut down on leaks by any means possible.

He has both expelled U.S. diplomats in response to similar American actions and

also sent not-so-subtle messages by poisoning former agents.

Mr. Putin has also said he is intent on killing so-called traitors, comments he made just ahead of the high-profile assassination attempt of the former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei V. Skripal.

Donald Trump hasn't done U.S. intelligence officials any favors, either.

Officials also raised the possibility that

the outing of an F.B.I. informant under scrutiny by the House intelligence committee —

an examination encouraged by President Trump

— has had a chilling effect on intelligence collection.

not all of their Russian contacts have been lost,

the ones closest to Putin have gone dark,

leaving them guessing at his goals as we head into the midterm elections.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/201...-midterm-plans

[Chris]

Someone is quite taken with Stealth Jeff ^

[Pavlov]

Someone is quite taken with Stealth Jeff ^

Yeah, you.

[djohn2oo8]

another hush money deal

[boutons_deux]

another hush money deal

a bas kid cements his "bad man lifted up by God to do good" pro-life rep with evangelicals

[boutons_deux]

Maher on Orange Tuesday and elves balls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtHai64Rlpk

[boutons_deux]

Trump Boasts That His Impeachment Will Get Higher TV Ratings Than All Other Impeachments

WASHINGTON —In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Donald Trump boasted that, if he is impeached, the television ratings will be higher than those of any other impeachment in history.

“Everywhere I go, people tell me that if I am impeached, they’re going to watch it,” he said.

“The ratings are going to be through the roof.”

He said that he expected

his impeachment ratings to be “many, many times” the size of the audience for Bill Clinton’s impeachment, in 1998.

“It’s not even going to be close,” Trump said. “The ratings for Bill Clinton’s impeachment were a joke.”

Asked about the recent impeachment of the former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Trump said, “Did anyone even watch that one? That was Korea. Nobody cares.”

As for the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, he said, “I didn’t hear about that one. I don’t follow Brazil. I like Argentina. I saw ‘Evita’ many, many times. Andrew Lloyd Webber did a great job. Millions and millions of people loved it. But that was a Broadway show, not an impeachment.”

Even though

he anticipates “just terrific” ratings for his impeachment,

Trump said that

he did not expect the media to provide an honest accounting of his audience size.

“They’re going to lie and say that a lot of people who watched my impeachment didn’t watch, and

that’s going to be very bad and unfair,

but it’s not going to change the fact that

my impeachment will be a great impeachment, a really beautiful impeachment,” he said.
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-boasts-that-his-impeachment-will-get-higher-tv-ratings-than-all-other-impeachments?mbid=nl_Borowitz%20082518&CNDID=43758 549&utm_source=Silverpop&utm_medium=email&utm_camp aign=Borowitz%20082518&utm_content=&spMailingID=14 126031&spUserID=MTQzNTk4NzA3ODYzS0&spJobID=1462165 016&spReportId=MTQ2MjE2NTAxNgS2

[boutons_deux]

The three illegal acts that may have helped Trump win the presidency

The hush money.

The hackers.

The trolls

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...nl_most&wpmm=1

[boutons_deux]

It's Not Enough to Impeach Trump — His Entire Presidency Should Be Annulled

Trump’s presidency is not authorized under the United States Cons ution.

Democrats will take back the House and begin an impeachment, and the evidence of impeachable offenses will put enough pressure on Republican senators to send Trump packing.

I don’t believe this for a moment.

First, the Senate has never in history convicted a president of impeachment.

Second, even if Democrats flip the House in November, Republicans will almost certainly remain in control of the Senate –

and so far they’ve displayed the integrity of lizards.

Third, Fox News and the rest of the right-wing sleaze media will continue to distort and cover up whatever the evidence shows – convincing 35 to 40 percent of Americans, along with most Republicans, that Trump is the innocent victim of a plot to remove him.

Finally, Trump himself will never voluntarily resign, as did Nixon. He’ll lie and claim a conspiracy to unseat him.

The only way I see the end of Trump is if there’s overwhelming evidence he rigged the 2016 election.

In which case impeachment isn’t an adequate remedy.

His presidency should be annulled.

Suppose, just suppose,

Robert Mueller finds overwhelming and indisputable evidence that

Trump conspired with Putin to rig the 2016 election, and

the rigging determined the election’s outcome.

In other words,

Trump’s presidency is not authorized under the United States Cons ution.

Suppose these findings are so compelling that even Trump loyalists desert him, the Republican Party decides it has had enough, and Fox News calls for his impeachment.

What then?

Impeachment isn’t enough.

Impeachment would remedy Trump’s “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

But impeachment would not remedy Trump’s uncons utional presidency because it would leave in place

his vice president,

White House staff and Cabinet,

as well as all the executive orders he issued and

all the legislation he signed, and

the official record of his presidency.

The only response to an uncons utional presidency is to annul it.

Annulment would repeal all of an uncons utional president’s appointments and executive actions, and

would eliminate the official record of the presidency.

Annulment would recognize that all such appointments, actions, and records were made without cons utional authority.

The Cons ution does not specifically provide for annulment of an uncons utional presidency.

But read as a whole, the Cons ution leads to the logical conclusion that annulment is the appropriate remedy for one.

As I’ve said, my betting is Trump remains president at least through 2020 –

absent compelling and indisputable evidence he rigged the 2016 election.

But if such evidence comes forth, impeachment isn’t an adequate remedy because Trump’s presidency would be cons utionally illegitimate.

It should be annulled.

https://www.alternet.org/its-not-eno...ld-be-annulled

[boutons_deux]

he knows everything

CFO was handing out checks to, eg "tech services company", but Cohen was the "fixer", why did Cohen needed to "fix" this "tech services company" with a hidden (off-books?) payment, rather than the CFO?

[Winehole23]

HOW CAN HE BE RACIST IF HE IMPREGNATED HIS LATINA HOUSEKEEPER?

[Reck]

HOW CAN HE BE RACIST IF HE IMPREGNATED HIS LATINA HOUSEKEEPER?

Trump going full Arnold.

[Chris]

[Pavlov]

search them yourself, David.

It's the only way to get justice!

[dabom]

search them yourself, David.

It's the only way to get justice!

[dabom]

Repugs own everything and president gotta get his cliff notes from an entertainment show.

[Reck]

search them yourself, David.

It's the only way to get justice!

He expects them spoon fed like his McDonald’s fries.

[boutons_deux]

HOW CAN HE BE RACIST IF HE IMPREGNATED HIS LATINA HOUSEKEEPER?

Droit de Seigneur

[Winehole23]

I say jus primae noctis, you say droit de seigneur, let's call the whole thing off

[ducks]

A Russian bank paid Bill Clinton a $500,000 speaking fee on June 29, 2010 for a 30 minute speech while Hillary was the Secretary of State

Soon after Hillary approved the sale of 20% of our Uranium to the Russians

I wonder why

[boutons_deux]

With Corker and McC out, there's not a single Repug who will stand up to Trash.

[Reck]

With Corker and McC out, there's not a single Repug who will stand up to Trash.

Corker standing up to anybody.

[boutons_deux]

‘He can’t get rid of any of this’: Trump’s wall of secrecy erodes amid growing legal challenges

President Trump’s wall of secrecy — the work of a lifetime — is starting to crack.

All three had been part of the small circle of family,

longtime aides and trusted associates who have long played crucial roles in Trump’s strategy to shield the details of his personal life and business dealings from prying outsiders.

The result has been a moment in which Trump seems politically wounded,

as friends turn and embarrassing revelations about alleged affairs and his charity trickle out, uncontained.

In coming months, certain cases could force Trump’s company to open its books about foreign government customers or compel the president to testify about his relationships with *women.

“The myth of Trump is now unraveling,”

said Barbara Res, a Trump Organization executive from 1978 to 1996.

“He’s becoming more obvious, and people are starting to know what he’s like and what he’s doing.”

his presidency is at a precarious point.

Recent polls suggest his repeated attacks on Mueller for leading a “witch hunt” have lost their effectiveness.

And if the Democrats win a majority in at least one house of Congress in the midterm elections, now less than 10 weeks away, they would gain the power to investigate or even impeach.

“The whole reason he is freaking out is, he can’t get rid of any of this,”

Trump has also focused his ire on Attorney General Jeff Sessions,

whom he has repeatedly and publicly attacked for his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

White House aides have explained to him that firing Sessions would not end the probe, but he remains livid,

officials said, particularly after Sessions responded last week with a statement

declaring that “the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.”

Before this year, any explanation of Trump’s secrecy would have begun with Cohen, a lawyer who threatened reporters with lawsuits for writing about Trump.

Before last week, it would have begun with Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer.

If Cohen was the outside man, Weisselberg has been the insider:

a functionary whom Trump trusted to handle his company’s bills and his charity’s donations.

Weisselberg started out working for Trump’s father, decades before.

“They are the same family,” Weisselberg and the Trumps, said one person close to the Trump Organization.

“I think Allen has earned that. He’s been around a long time, and he’s part of the family.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...nl_most&wpmm=1

Hard to see how Weisselberg, obviously guilt by deep and long association, can escape before the law.

His immunity is tightly cir scribed to Mueller's crushing of Cohen, no immunity for anything else.