“When you are innocent … act like it,” Trey Gowdy
“Our recollection keeps changing” on the Trump Tower meeting–Rudy Giuliani
I have the absolute right to pardon myself–President Trump
What does Robert Mueller know and what will he do about it?
- Persons questioned by Mueller report that he knows a lot.
- Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein doubtless knows most if not all of what Mueller does.
- President Trump may not know it all, but he has reason to fear.
Rudy Giuliani claims that the only remedy for Presidential misdeeds is impeachment. Giuliani is clearly wrong, but the time is not yet ripe for that. What else might happen?
- Mueller might bide his time, while the Cohen and Manafort cases grind on.
- More Trump associates might be indicted, tried, and possibly pardoned.
- Trump himself might receive a subpoena; he might then plead self-incrimination.
- More damning information might be uncovered by the press and published.
- The Dept. of Justice might release a report. Sessions and Rosenstein most likely would be quickly fired. Congress would have to decide how to react.
I think the first item in the above list is the most likely. Mueller has no reason to rush. If the time for action is not yet at hand, there may be an opportunity later.
Some question why AG Sessions doesn’t resign. I think the answer is that he hopes to survive as AG when Trump is history.
New NY 23rd 
Trump’s claim to be above the law is the most serious statement by any POTUS. Period. Those who support that claim are authoritarians.
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Trump favors autocracy–one man rule by himself. His party has been inclined to grant his wish.
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Rudy Giuliani: great legal mind, or greatest legal mind of his generation?
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We all need to remember that Giuliani is not in investigator, nor the judge. He is a lawyer trying to defend his client. Like most accused, Trump has declared that he is innocent. We keep hearing from the accused and his lawyer(s); we have yet to hear from the other side. Watch out when Mueller’s report is released.
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pstew. And the funny thing is that no one has even formally accused Trump of anything, yet Rudy is pleading innocent.
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Manafort is accused of witness tampering. Naively, he must not have realized the danger. Could that be what lawyer/fixer Cohen might have done for DJT.
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There is the very real possibility that this is nothing more than a political stunt to keep this “negative President Trump story” in the news on a daily basis to discredit all Republican incumbents and candidates and especially Trump himself in the 2019/2020 Presidential cycle. Any people they can scoop up in this all encompassing investigation for “crimes” committed well before these people got involved in teh Trump campaign.
#1) Why weren’t these people discovered, investigated and indicted years ago? Do we have a corrupt and weaponized Justice Department? or are they for the most part inept ?
#2) This investigation was supposed to be about Russian Collusion into the Election Process. Why aren’t they also in the vestigating Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC for this Russian collusion?
Imagine, anyone of being investigated for something that happened 2 years ago and they end up indicting family members and friends for totally unrelated “crimes” that supposedly occurred years ago.
We could all be indicted for breaking some law in the past 10 years. Crazy……..
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What’s your view of alleged witness tampering, Gary aka Rynstone?
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Of course witness tampering is a bad thing. However, I have not been provided enough information by the media on Paul Manafort’s specific case to form an opinion of his guilt or innocence.
Again, this witness tampering charge has absolutely nothing to do with the charge of Russian tampering with our Presidential elections or collusion. This Paul Manafort thing happened year before the 2016 Presidential election and is not related to the Trump campaign. However, it will be used to keep Trumps name in the media. This may actually gain Trump more support, not less.
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The alleged witness tampering was recent, while Manafort was under house arrest.
There is a joke about a Russian who was arrested for loosing his papers in a flush toilet. He was convicted on the grounds that anyone that stupid was certainly a potential spy.
If Manafort was stupid enough to engage in witness tampering while under house arrest, just think of what additional crimes he might have committed.
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Ryn posted:
#1) Why weren’t these people discovered, investigated and indicted years ago? Do we have a corrupt and weaponized Justice Department? or are they for the most part inept ?
#2) This investigation was supposed to be about Russian Collusion into the Election Process. Why aren’t they also in the vestigating Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC for this Russian collusion?
Possible answers. #1) Most crimes go undetected. These particular people (Flynn, Manafort, Gates, Papadapolous) were brought under investigation because they were connected with Russians and the campaign. That was the reason for the investigation in the first place, to see IF there were any connections between Russia and the Trump folks. Had they not been involved in the illegal activity they would not be prosecuted. The fact is that these people WERE discovered years ago. That is why the investigation started in the first place.As you know, it takes time to collect evidence. After all, Ken Starr took 4 years and never was able to indict Clinton for the original charge…corruption in the land deal. Why was that even investigated? Because someone thought there may be a crime. Same with the Russia connection. No crime, no worries.
Is the FBI “weaponized”? Well, the FBI investigates possible crimes.I suppose it is considered a “weapon” by the guilty. What does the “I” stand for?
#2) We don’t know if the Clinton campaign is under investigation for Russia connections. We do know that Putin hated Clinton. She stood up to him as Sec of State. Why he would want to help her win the election is a mystery. The Russian parliament cheered when Trump was elected would seem to indicate that the Russians did not want Clinton as POTUS.
“Reactions in Moscow to Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election can only be described as “euphoric,” according to veteran Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes.
“Russian elites from Putin on down have been absolutely thrilled with the result,” says Maynes. “For example, in the Duma — the Russian parliament — when the results were announced that Mr. Trump had triumphed, lawmakers broke out into applause….”
https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-11-09/russian-leaders-literally-cheer-trumps-victory
We not know of any contacts with the DNC, although we do know of over 70 contacts of Russians and the trump campaign). So, if any evidence emerges that Clinton and the Russians were colluding we will see it developed.Now, the Trump News has said there was Clinton collusion with Russia but no evidence is ever provided to support that claim.
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Ryn posted:
“Again, this witness tampering charge has absolutely nothing to do with the charge of Russian tampering with our Presidential elections or collusion. This Paul Manafort thing happened year before the 2016 Presidential election and is not related to the Trump campaign. However, it will be used to keep Trumps name in the media. This may actually gain Trump more support, not less.”
Well, the only person who keeps Trump’s name in the media is the Tweeter-in-Chief. He WANTS the spotlight. “No Drama Obama” he ain’t.
I think you are correct when you say that Manafort has no direct link to the Russia probe. At least not one that Mueller has made public. However, he was Trump’s campaign manager, which is probably how he got swept into the case. Did Trump know his shady background when he was hired? Why was he hired in the first place?
Now we see that he was laundering money for Russian oligarchs and possibly Ukrainians. The question remains as to whether that money was funneled to the Trumps or if it is a separate issue. At any rate, he is charged with tax fraud, not registering as a foreign agent ,paying off politicians. Now with witness tampering. But so far, no direct connection with the 2016 election.
So, was Mueller correct to indict Manafort? Well, when you are investigating one crime and run across another possible crime of course you can investigate. That is just common sense.
I think there are a great number of people. Flynn, Manafort, Gates, Papadapolous, Sessions, Jared, Spicer, Hope Hicks, Ronny Jackson and others who wish they had never met Donald Trump. He has exposed them to possible criminal indictments or at least tarnished their reputations.
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I know the alleged witness tampering was recent, but it was in reference to his alleged offshore unclaimed income that took place years ago. None of this has anything to do with the Russians interfering with our Elections and the Trump campaign colluding with the Russians. The investigation was to investigate Trump campaign collusion with the Russians. Everything else is an overreach to keep this investigation going under the guise of The Trump campaign and Russian collusion for purely political reasons. (and at a great cost to the American taxpayer. 17.5 million so far)
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Not near as much as Trump has spent on golfing at Mar-a-Lago.
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Ryn posted:
The investigation was to investigate Trump campaign collusion with the Russians. Everything else is an overreach to keep this investigation going under the guise of The Trump campaign and Russian collusion for purely political reasons. (and at a great cost to the American taxpayer. 17.5 million so far)
Well, every time Trump goes to Mar-a-Lago it costs the taxpayer $1,000,000. Pruitt has wasted millions on travel and sound proof booths. Zinke also had some travel issues. Pence flew across the country just so he could walk out of an NFL game. So any claim about money spent is pretty shaky when talking about the Trump administration.
Now, you say anything other than a direct investigation of the Trump-Russia collusion is an over reach. Let me tell you why that is a mistaken idea for two reasons.
1. Mueller was given the charge to investigate any possible interference or collusion and ANYTHING else that is discovered in the process.
2. When you investigate a crime you cannot ignore other crimes. Let us say the police are called to my house because a neighbor says he saw a drug dealer enter. So the cops come in and ask me about drugs. I say, fine. Search the house. They search the house and find 3 young women tied u and gagged in the basement. They come up and say they are gong to charge me with a crime. I say,”No. You didn’t come here looking for a kidnapping, therefore you are overstepping your authority”. You think they will leave and say, OKey dokey?
Do you see my point? just as Ken Starr was charged to investigate Clinton land deals and found no crime, but then expanded to the Lewinsky affair. Same thing.
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In response to a Ryn post , I posted:
“I think you are correct when you say that Manafort has no direct link to the Russia probe. At least not one that Mueller has made public.”
I was wrong. In 2016 the Russians, Donald Jr, Jared and Manafort met at trump Tower. This was the meeting Trump lied about when he dictated the famous memo on Air Force One. If you recall he said he had nothing to do with it, but his lawyers now say Trump dictated the memo himself.
So, that is a very direct connection bewteen Manafort and the Russians at the secret Trump Tower meeting.
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Manafort was the Campaign Chair. If there was conspiracy, he would likely know about it. Robert Mueller may already know what was done but would like a confession. Manafort had a long history of involvement in crime. One might wonder why he was appointed.
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Josephurban, so Trump is technically responsible for exposing the “alleged criminals” to the Justice Departments investigation. Outstanding ! The Trumpster, draining the DC swamp one criminal at a time !
Interesting events unfolding
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/doj-watchdog-finds-james-comey-defied-authority-fbi-154204884–abc-news-topstories.html
From Dick Morris former Clinton friend and adviser and political consultant
https://www.dickmorris.com/obstruction-case-against-trump-rapidly-falling-apart-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports
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Ryn posted:
“Josephurban, so Trump is technically responsible for exposing the “alleged criminals” to the Justice Departments investigation. Outstanding ! The Trumpster, draining the DC swamp one criminal at a time !”
I have no idea what you are referring to . Trump has said over and over that the Russia investigation was a HOAX. Now his lawyers admit he wrote the memo about the Russians and his campaign team meeting in Trump Tower. Do you not see that as a problem for him?
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Will Andrew McCabe come clean?
http://conservativefighters.org/news/mccabe-seeks-immunity-from-prosecution-in-exchange-for-testimony-in-congressional-hearing/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking_mccabe_seeks_immunity_from_prosecution_in_exchange_for_testimony_in_congressional_hearing&utm_term=2018-06-06
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Ha, Ha; Gary is being obtuse, pretending that he knows the only criminals are DOJ officials while Trump and his campaign workers are choirboys.
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Sarcasm Joseph sarcasm !
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I expect the investigation of Comey will be interesting. Why did he part from established procedures and talk publicly about the Clinton emails while staying silent on the trump campaign investigation? Was it because he was a Republican? Was there someone in the NY FBI who encouraged him to go public? Were any members of Congress involved? The Clinton email “investigation” (which turned up nothing again) turned out to be a major factor in the election. Why did he do it? He has never given an adequate answer to that.
Not sure what McCabe has to say. We will find out eventually. Just as we will fond out what Mueller discovered. These things take time. Patience,
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