Sound The TRUMPets! A Thread for Presidential Pondering 2016-2020(?)

[Karl Henning]

Geo. Will: Will the Supreme Court permit Trump to be above the law?

Pardon me while I guffaw — and flash back to the Whitewater inquiry, when conservatives seemed to have no such compunctions about subpoenas for documents and testimony from, yes, the sitting president's personal accountants, and for Hillary Clinton's law firm billing records. While an independent counsel was investigating the Clintons' real estate investments.

Guffawing, too, over the Trump lawyers' self-pitying lament that Democrats, upon retaking the House after the 2018 midterms, unleashed a barrage of subpoenas. Not only did Republicans do the same to a Democratic president when they regained control in 2010 but, over Democratic protests, they relaxed the subpoena rules to let the majority act unilaterally.

Every administration chafes at congressional investigations; of course there are political motivations. That is part of the checks and balances the Founders envisioned. Effectively dismantling congressional oversight, as Trump wants, would not further the arrangement the Founders envisioned; it would undermine it.

[Mahlerian]

Heckuva job, Mr President!

Top Trump economic advisers say unemployment rate could surpass 20 percent, job market could worsen

Best economy ever!

[Karl Henning]

One is free to do as thou wilt, but I'd recommend getting it through normal means.

If indeed he feel that he must.

[Karl Henning]

"Suck it up, little people!"

"The news that the novel coronavirus has invaded President Trump's inner circle — and that the White House is implementing aggressive testing and tracing to combat it — is a devastating story on an obvious and immediate level, but also on a deeper and longer-lasting one.

Most palpably, it has revealed the sort of glaring double standard that's catnip to political media: The White House is taking extensive steps to protect Trump and his top advisers with resources that are largely unavailable to the rest of us, in part due to his own dereliction.

But new reporting about the White House's handling of this points to something more fundamental. How will Trump persuade the country we are returning to a normalcy that makes it safe to resume economic activities when his own advisers are panicked about its invasion of their own spaces, even as they can protect themselves in a way we cannot?"

[BasilValentine]

Yeah, that's justice. You got Paulie for things he did before the election to ultimately pay for an investigation into the actual election, which netted absolutely zero and the only moral victory you have is, "well, we cannot find evidence of a crime but we cannot exonerate him either because............"

Maybe Bobby needed 60 or a 100 million?

Jeezus. You don't even know what the investigation was about, do you? Couldn't bother to even read the introduction? It wasn't an investigation into "the actual election." So it's no surprise you missed the fact that Manafort received 11 million dollars in the form of loan forgiveness from Oleg Deripaska in return for providing granular RNC polling data from swing states to Russian operatives. It was the money he took before the election, for which Deripaska was suing him in a US court, that provided the leverage by which the poling data was extorted. When the data started flowing, Deripaska called off the suit.

Your pseudo-quotation is bullshit invented by Billy Barr to dupe fools he knew would never read the report. Mueller found convincing evidence of at least ten felonies committed by Trump. Part Two of the report details this. Trump wasn't indicted because of DOJ guidelines on indicting a sitting president. That's why Mueller suggested impeachment as the proper remedy.

[Karl Henning]

Jeezus. You don't even know what the investigation was about, do you?

Nope, that's the joy of being a ditto-head.

[Karl Henning]

Farmers' hopes for respite from Trump-era struggles fade amid pandemic

[JBS]

Farmers' hopes for respite from Trump-era struggles crash and burn amid pandemic

FTFY

[Karl Henning]

Republicans finally realize Trump will drag them under

It sure took them long enough. For months, it has been clear that the Senate majority is slipping from Republicans' control, but they appeared to be in denial that an unpopular president who failed to address a pandemic and presided over an economy akin to the Great Depression might ruin their reelection chances. Who knew?

But now, Republicans are becoming alarmed at their chances in November. The Post reports: "Democrats have benefited from two key developments, said Jessica Taylor, Senate editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report: the emergence of Biden, not Bernie Sanders, as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and emerging evidence that the public does not believe Trump is managing the pandemic effectively." They might discover a third: Republicans blindly follow President Trump even when he makes no political or policy sense.

Republicans continue to repeat the error that contributed more to their 2018 losses than any other. "Democrats also plan to attack GOP senators for their opposition to the increasingly popular Affordable Care Act, with 2020 marking the first Senate elections where Democrats can target a large swath of Republicans for votes early in the Trump presidency to repeal the health law." Hey, why not stop cheering for its repeal in the middle of the pandemic? That would be smart policy at a time people are losing employment (and health coverage) and face a national health emergency. Really, this is not rocket science.

Republicans are remarkably unwilling to engage in some honest reflection, as evidenced by former Senate Republican whip John Cornyn:

"I think the one issue in this campaign — this particular election — is going to be how did we respond to this crisis? I think all other considerations are going to be secondary," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who twice ran the Senate GOP's campaign arm and is on the ballot this fall. "If you're an incumbent, you can demonstrate how you would react to the crisis by actually doing it."

Hmm. He and his fellow Republicans might try dropping their opposition to additional funding for state and local governments, without which thousands of firefighters, police officers, EMTs, teachers, public hospital workers and other state and local employees will face layoffs. Breaking with Trump to keep all those people working would be very popular, evidence that they can "react to the crisis."

Likewise, voting by mail is overwhelmingly popular. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pummeling Republicans on the issue (as well as Trump's threat to defund the Post Office). Appearing on Sunday with Greta Van Susteren of Gray TV's "Full Court Press," Pelosi explained: "So, to those who make that charge about [state and local funding], 'Oh, they had problems before,' it has nothing to do with that. This is strictly, what are your outlays for the coronavirus? What is your revenue loss for the coronavirus? That's why it has the support of Democratic and Republican governors across the country. It is strictly about this, and it's about nothing else."

On voting, Pelosi added, "And we will in our bill, also, have funding for vote by mail, which we think is essential and supported by Republicans across the country. They like voting by mail. They have more of a habit of voting by mail." She reminded the audience that Wisconsin Republicans opposed extending the time to mail in ballots that were late to arrive due to heavy demand. "In the state of Wisconsin, they had a number of COVID cases that were immediately traced to people having to stand in line for a long time to vote," Pelosi recounted. "So, this is not only the health of our democracy, it's the health of our people."

Republicans have been frittering away their reelection chances ever since Trump tied them to his unpopular policies. They still won't break with some of his worst ideas. Now, facing an election wipeout, they fret that he is pulling them under. Well, what did they expect?

[Karl Henning]

FTFY

(* chortle *)

[Karl Henning]

Joe Biden: How the White House coronavirus response presents us with a false choice

Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

The coronavirus, to date, has taken the lives of more than 79,000 Americans. One of every 5 U.S. workers has filed for unemployment — with the unemployment rate now the highest since the Great Depression. It is an extraordinary moment — the kind that begs for urgent, steady, empathetic, unifying leadership.

But instead of unifying the country to accelerate our public health response and get economic relief to those who need it, President Trump is reverting to a familiar strategy of deflecting blame and dividing Americans. His goal is as obvious as it is craven: He hopes to split the country into dueling camps, casting Democrats as doomsayers hoping to keep America grounded and Republicans as freedom fighters trying to liberate the economy.

It's a childish tactic — and a false choice that none of us should fall for.

The truth is that everyone wants America to reopen as soon as possible — claiming otherwise is completely absurd. Governors from both parties are doing their best to make that happen, but their efforts have been slowed and hampered because they haven't gotten the tools, resources and guidance they need from the federal government to reopen safely and sustainably. That responsibility falls on Trump's shoulders — but he isn't up to the task.

It's been more than two months since Trump claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test." It was a baldfaced lie when he said it, and it still isn't remotely true. If we're going to have thriving workplaces, restaurants, stores and parks, we need widespread testing. Trump can't seem to provide it — to say nothing of worker safety protocols, consistent health guidelines or clear federal leadership to coordinate a responsible reopening.

In addition to forgetting the tests, he seems to have forgotten that ours is a demand-driven economy — you can shout from the rooftops that we're open for business, but the economy will not get back to full strength if the number of new cases is still rising or plateauing and people don't believe that it's safe to return to normal activities. Without measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus, many Americans won't want to shop in stores, eat in restaurants or travel; small-business owners know that a nervous public won't provide enough customers to ensure they thrive.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) began "reopening" his state's dine-in restaurants on April 27 — 12 days later, according to data from restaurant-booking service OpenTable, there were still 92 percent fewer diners than there were on the same day a year ago. States and cities that have attempted to reopen are discovering that the economy isn't a light switch you can simply flip on — people need confidence to make it run, and that confidence must be earned by credible leadership and demonstrable safety.

Again, the solution isn't a mystery. The Trump administration could focus on producing and distributing adequate testing and protocols that conform with the guidance of public health experts; doing so would speed up the reopening process considerably and make it a whole lot more effective. The administration is fully aware that this is the right path, too — after all, the president and his staff are now reportedly receiving daily tests. They knew exactly how to make the Oval Office safe and operational, and they put in the work to do it.

They just haven't put in that same work for the rest of us.

If Trump and his team understand how critical testing is to their safety — and they seem to, given their own behavior — why are they insisting that it's unnecessary for the American people?

And why does the president insist on trying to turn this into yet another line of division, pitting strained, grieving Americans against one another across manufactured battle lines of "health" and "the economy"? Everybody knows that we can't revive the latter unless we safeguard the former — and pretending otherwise is the most transparent of political ploys. Instead of once again seeking to divide us, Trump should be working to get Americans the same necessary protections he has gotten for himself.

It's the right thing to do, and the only path to truly getting the economy back on track.

[BasilValentine]

What's the official title to the Mueller Report?
No one was defending the conduct and lifestyle of Manafort but you can't prove Trump knew anything about any supposed data transfer; the "oligarch" in question denied it taking place and Manafort was never charged or convicted for any crimes related to the 2016 election. Rather he was convicted for tax and bank fraud and his involvement in the Ukraine elections.   
Yet Congress didn't pursue it. Why?

You excused Manafort because his actions were prior to the election and claimed he did nothing affecting the "actual election." In fact he did, and I detailed what he did, as did the Mueller report. No one accused Trump of knowing about the data transfers. But did you happen to notice that Deripaska was taken off the sanctions list and that he was allowed to open an aluminum plant in Kentucky, even though we know he exerted the pressure on Manafort and rewarded him for his actions? That's how Mitch McConnell got the nickname "Moscow Mitch."

Yet Congress didn't pursue it. Why?

Because an effective coverup blocked access to the witnesses and documents. Duh! The administration is still blocking access to evidence, including the grand jury transcripts. Had you read the report you would know why: Some of he redactions are conspicuously covering conversations that would likely have revealed what Trump knew and when.   

[SimonNZ]

2,000 Former FBI And DOJ Officials Call On Barr To Resign

"Almost 2,000 former FBI agents and Department of Justice officials wrote an open letter Monday calling for Attorney General William Barr to resign over his handling of the Michael Flynn case, after the Justice Department abruptly dropped criminal charges against President Trump's former national security advisor last week, despite Flynn's earlier guilty pleas.


Trump's latest Twitter meltdown features QAnon, accidental self-owns, and a lot of "OBAMAGATE"
In any previous era, the tweets would be a major national scandal. In Trump's America, it was Sunday.

"With the coronavirus continuing to ravage the country both in human and economic terms and his poll numbers sagging, President Donald Trump spent his event-free Mother's Day posting up a storm — sending the sort of public statements that would have been cause for national concern in any previous era.

When the smoked cleared, the 126 tweets or retweets Trump posted ending up being one of his most prolific posting days in history, falling just 16 short of the single-day posting record he set during his impeachment trial in January. Although the American public has become somewhat numb to Trump's Twitter diatribes, the quantity was notable — and so was the lack of quality.

The president amplified a number of accounts that have promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory about Democrats being involved in a pedophilia cult, retweeted accounts without avatars and with few followers that he somehow found on the fringes of the internet, and desperately tried to change the topic from the coronavirus by working to settle old scores with his perceived foes in politics and the media."

In an episode encapsulating his Twitter recklessness, Trump at one point on Sunday obliviously retweeted a post he may have misread that criticizes Attorney General Bill Barr's Department of Justice as "corrupt." The account that posted that tweet described the situation as "perplexing" and joked, "My notifications are filled with flying monkeys and a bunch of Qanons welcoming me to the Twilight Zone."[...]

[SimonNZ]

"'You should ask China': Trump terminates press conference after clash with reporter"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4vKC-hYiqo&feature=youtu.be

[Karl Henning]

President Snowflake

[Herman]

an oldie but a goodie: "people in China love me; how can you not love China?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDrfE9I8_hs

[SimonNZ]

2,000 Former FBI And DOJ Officials Call On Barr To Resign

"Almost 2,000 former FBI agents and Department of Justice officials wrote an open letter Monday calling for Attorney General William Barr to resign over his handling of the Michael Flynn case, after the Justice Department abruptly dropped criminal charges against President Trump's former national security advisor last week, despite Flynn's earlier guilty pleas.

Copied out, for anyone who may require it (link and emphasis in the original):

DOJ Alumni Statement on Flynn Case

We, the undersigned, are alumni of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) who have collectively served both Republican and Democratic administrations. Each of us proudly took an oath to defend the Constitution and pursue the evenhanded administration of justice free from partisan consideration.

Many of us have spoken out previously to condemn President Trump's and Attorney General Barr's political interference in the Department's law enforcement decisions, as we did when Attorney General Barr overruled the sentencing recommendation of career prosecutors to seek favorable treatment for President Trump's close associate, Roger Stone. The Attorney General's intervention in the Stone case to seek political favor for a personal ally of the President flouted the core principle that politics must never enter into the Department's law enforcement decisions and undermined its mission to ensure equal justice under the law. As we said then, "Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies."

Now, Attorney General Barr has once again assaulted the rule of law, this time in the case of President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn. In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Subsequent events strongly suggest political interference in Flynn's prosecution. Despite previously acknowledging that he "had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI," President Trump has repeatedly and publicly complained that Flynn has been mistreated and subjected to a "witch hunt." The President has also said that Flynn was "essentially exonerated" and that he was "strongly considering a [f]ull [p]ardon." The Department has now moved to dismiss the charges against Flynn, in a filing signed by a single political appointee and no career prosecutors. The Department's purported justification for doing so does not hold up to scrutiny, given the ample evidence that the investigation was well-founded and — more importantly — the fact that Flynn admitted under oath and in open court that he told material lies to the FBI in violation of longstanding federal law.

Make no mistake: The Department's action is extraordinarily rare, if not unprecedented. If any of us, or anyone reading this statement who is not a friend of the President, were to lie to federal investigators in the course of a properly predicated counterintelligence investigation, and admit we did so under oath, we would be prosecuted for it.

We thus unequivocally support the decision of the career prosecutor who withdrew from the Flynn case, just as we supported the prosecutors who withdrew from the Stone case. They are upholding the oath that we all took, and we call on their colleagues to continue to follow their example. President Trump accused the career investigators and prosecutors involved in the Flynn case of "treason" and threatened that they should pay "a big price." It is incumbent upon the other branches of government to protect from retaliation these public servants and any others who are targeted for seeking to uphold their oaths of office and pursue justice.

It is now up to the district court to consider the government's motion to dismiss the Flynn indictment. We urge Judge Sullivan to closely examine the Department's stated rationale for dismissing the charges — including holding an evidentiary hearing with witnesses — and to deny the motion and proceed with sentencing if appropriate. While it is rare for a court to deny the Department's request to dismiss an indictment, if ever there were a case where the public interest counseled the court to take a long, hard look at the government's explanation and the evidence, it is this one. Attorney General Barr's repeated actions to use the Department as a tool to further President Trump's personal and political interests have undermined any claim to the deference that courts usually apply to the Department's decisions about whether or not to prosecute a case.

Finally, in our previous statement, we called on Attorney General Barr to resign, although we recognized then that there was little chance that he would do so. We continue to believe that it would be best for the integrity of the Justice Department and for our democracy for Attorney General Barr to step aside. In the meantime, we call on Congress to hold the Attorney General accountable. In the midst of the greatest public health crisis our nation has faced in over a century, we would all prefer it if Congress could focus on the health and prosperity of Americans, not threats to the health of our democracy. Yet Attorney General Barr has left Congress with no choice. Attorney General Barr was previously set to give testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on March 31, but the hearing was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We urge the Committee to reschedule Attorney General Barr's testimony as soon as safely possible and demand that he answer for his abuses of power. We also call upon Congress to formally censure Attorney General Barr for his repeated assaults on the rule of law in doing the President's personal bidding rather than acting in the public interest. Our democracy depends on a Department of Justice that acts as an independent arbiter of equal justice, not as an arm of the president's political apparatus.

(If you are a former DOJ employee and would like to add your name to this statement, please complete this form. Protect Democracy will update this list daily with new signatories until May 25th.)

[SimonNZ]

Quit with the spam.

Any other thoughts on the content of the letter?

[arpeggio]

I have been reading items like this for years.

There was a letter signed by several hundred former DOJ employees stating that they believe base on the Mueller Report, Trump was guilty of obstruction of Justice. 

The only response that Trumpsters can come up with is to claim the people who sign these documents are 'clowns'.

[BasilValentine]

You just had to insinuate there anyways. A compromise was made to remove the sanctions (not that you care, even when no hard evidence links Trump you still suspect him).

No, I don't suspect Trump knew Manafort was providing polling data to the Russians. An exception was made for Deripaska, despite (because of?) his suspected role in undermining the election.

From what I take of it, Mueller supposedly found evidence for obstruction but no clear underlying evidence for conspiracy or coordination with Russia, which makes the obstruction charges rather meaningless.

Sigh. You have no idea what this even means because you never bothered to read Mueller's criteria for a finding of conspiracy. In fact, Mueller found a number of instances of coordination or collusion. And no, the ten acts of obstruction are not meaningless. They were ten felonies committed for political gain. Anyone but a sitting president would have been indicted and prosecuted for them.

I'm sure you'll disagree or further educate me. Thanks in advance.

No, but I'd suggest you educate yourself instead of making demonstrably false claims about documents you haven't read.