Showing posts with label investigation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label investigation. Show all posts

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Jeff Sessions Can't Handle the Truth

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Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Confederate Attorney General of the United States of Trump, had trouble speaking the truth last week before the Senate Intelligence Committee. He insisted that he did nothing wrong while making numerous contacts with Russians - most of whom he said he couldn't remember - during the Trump campaign for President, even though he has recused himself from the investigation about Russian interference in the election, which would seem to imply some kind of guilt.

The Trump White House said the President was NOT claiming Executive Privilege to keep Sessions silent, and Sessions agreed. But then he waffled continuously on answers about his discussions with Trump for no apparent legal reason, infuriating some Senators who just want the truth to come out.

He also had the gall to tell Senator Kamala Harris of California that she made him "nervous," which raised eyebrows since she is a person of color and he has been known to pal around with the racist Alt-Right crowd. None of the white men on the Committee made him "nervous."











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Monday, May 15, 2017

Trump Unhinged

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President Trump's weird behavior and bizarre statements are nothing new to anyone who keeps up with politics, but this past week took the high-strangeness to a new level. It's hard to say whether Alzheimer's or some other illness is causing his moments of derangement, or whether his Narcissistic psyche is collapsing under the pressure of the Trump-Russia investigation and the Comey-firing backlash.

Whatever his malfunction happens to be, there's no doubt the White House is in chaos, and our country is being poorly led by a man unfit to serve.

Just a few headlines using the word "Unhinged" from this past week:

Vox: Trump Had An Unhinged Early Morning Tweet Storm After Firing Comey

Jeet Heer on New Republic: Trump's Unhinged Impromptu Press Conference Was a Lesson for Sean Spicer

Mediaite: Dem Congresswoman Kathleen Rice says Trump is "Unhinged" "Acting Like a Petulant Child"

Daily Kos: Unhinged Trump Attacks Democratic Senator Blumenthal With Fake News

Crazy Quotes from his Time Magazine Interview:

I don’t watch CNN. I don’t watch MSNBC.
(hint: not true - he often rants about both on Twitter and aides have leaked that he often yells at the TV)

Scarborough used to treat me great. But because I don’t do interviews and stuff and want to … He went the other way. Which is fine. He’s got some problems. But I don’t watch the show anymore. It drives him crazy. I don’t watch the show.
(Interpretation: Trump often refers to the show on Twitter, but now that Joe and Mika have gone from cheerleaders to critics, he pretends not to watch it)

CNN in the morning, Chris Cuomo, he’s sitting there like a chained lunatic. He’s like a boiler ready to explode, the level of hatred. And the entire, you know the entire CNN platform is that way. This Don Lemon who’s perhaps the dumbest person in broadcasting
(Cuomo is critical, and Don Lemon is critical and happens to be black).

As far as newspapers and things, I glance at them. They’re really dishonest. I mean they’re really dishonest.
(Interpretation: Denial and Fear)

You see a no-talent guy like Colbert. There’s nothing funny about what he says. And what he says is filthy. And you have kids watching. And it only builds up my base. It only helps me, people like him. The guy was dying. By the way they were going to take him off television, then he started attacking me and he started doing better. But his show was dying. I’ve done his show. … But when I did his show, which by the way was very highly rated. It was high—highest rating. The highest rating he’s ever had.
(Colbert has criticized Trump for years and recently made a crude oral sex joke about Trump and Putin, and clearly Trump was not amused)

Quotes from the Lester Holt NBC News Interview:

TRUMP: Look, (Comey) he's a showboat. He's a grandstander.
(Trump Projection of his own personality)

The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that, everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil -- less than a year ago. It hasn't recovered from that.
(No evidence of that whatsoever - only Twitter rumors from God knows who)

He (Deputy AG Rosenstein) had made a recommendation. But regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey knowing there was no good time to do it
(Rosenstein says he was told to write a memo by AG Jeff Sessions, who also wrote a memo)

I said to myself -- I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should've won.
(Russian tampering in our election has been reported and verified)

And the reason they should've won it is the electoral college is almost impossible for a Republican to win. It's very hard because you start off at such a disadvantage. So, everybody was thinking they should've won the election. This was an excuse for having lost an election.
(Republicans have won many times, but Trump had "help" with his disadvantage - from Russian tampering)

I had a dinner with him (Comey). He wanted to have dinner because he wanted to stay on. We had a very nice dinner at the White House...very early on. That dinner was arranged. I think he asked for the dinner. And he wanted to stay on as the FBI head. And I said I'll, you know, consider. We'll see what happens. But we had a very nice dinner. And at that time, he told you are not under investigation...
(Comey denies ever saying that to Trump)

And this part is key to understanding the King of Denial - just make stuff up, but also have a Freudian Slip or two:
HOLT: That was one meeting. When was the -- when was the other two?

TRUMP: First of all, when you're under investigation, you're giving all sorts of documents and everything. I knew I wasn't under. And I heard it was stated at the committee -- at some committee level that I wasn't, number one.
(Not the "number one" perp but clearly not off the hook either - right?)

HOLT: So, that didn't come directly from him.


TRUMP: Then, during a phone call, he said it. And then, during another phone call he said it.
(Did this really happen? Wait until Comey gets to testify about this point - it will be epic!)

So, he said it once at dinner and then he said it twice during phone calls.

HOLT: Did -- did you call him?

TRUMP: In one case I called him and one case he called me.

HOLT: And did you ask am I under investigation?

TRUMP: I actually asked him, yes. I said if it's possible, would you let me know am I under investigation. He said you are not under investigation.
(It's believable that Trump would have the audacity to call the FBI, but no one there would ruin an investigation by telling the subject about it, especially not the Director of the FBI)




Trump's Twitter Rants:




































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Friday, May 12, 2017

Trump Faces Backlash for Comey Firing

via GIPHY


Previous Related Post:
Trump Fires FBI Director Comey

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The folks in the FBI were absolutely not amused that President Trump fired Director James Comey. And Trump hasn't made things any better by changing the story of how and why he did it from hour to hour for three days.

"When I decided to [fire Comey], I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story."





It's Over Now According to Spokesperson
Sarah Huckabee Sanders



But . . .







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Via New York Daily News
"Regardless of recommendation I was going to fire Comey," he said told NBC's Lester Holt. "He's a showboat, he's grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that."



But . . .







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Just minutes after the NBC Interview, the FBI trolled Trump
with this ominous tweet - a warning perhaps?



Huckabee Sanders vs The FBI Reality











And Trump cancelled a trip to FBI Headquarters



Is this a turning point? asks Charles P. Pierce:




















And All the Karma Comes Flying Back




























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Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Trump Fires FBI Director Comey

via GIPHY


Donald Trump fired controversial FBI Director Comey just as he was setting up indictments from grand juries for General Flynn and his associates over possible treason with Russia. But Trump would have us believe he fired Comey for his statements about Hillary Clinton's emails last year, which Trump famously called for Russia to hack, by the way. Yeah right.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote a letter suggesting the termination, even though he had recused himself from the Hillary Clinton email scandal as well as Trump-Russia. This comes right after also-fired Ex- Acting Attorney General Sally Yates appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee to discuss Trump's Muslim Ban as well as his Russian connections.

Perhaps Comey and Yates were getting too close to the truth, so Trump got rid of them. Not since Nixon has a President fired someone who was investigating his own administration. Who knows what tomorrow brings?









From Journalist Dan Rather on Facebook



























Kudos to the Trump-Russia Twitter Crowd
Who Have Been Sounding Alarms for Weeks
And Were Still Predicting Last Night


For more see Previous Post:
Russiagate Speculation Round-Up





























It Might Be A Coup

















Like Nixon and Watergate














AG Sessions Did What?








What Will the GOP Do Now?




















Special Investigations Overdrive















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Saturday, March 11, 2017

Flynn Flap a Big Flop for Trump

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So Mike Flynn, Trump's pick for National Security Advisor, was a paid lobbyist for a foreign government and lied about it!

Does this shock anyone at this point? No. Everyone's lying, but they aren't really getting away with it anymore.



From NBC News
Flynn was fired last month after it was determined he misled Vice President Mike Pence about Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. His security clearance was suspended.
When NBC News spoke to Alptekin in November, he said he had no affiliation with the Turkish government and that his hiring of Flynn's company, the Flynn Intel Group, had nothing to do with the Turkish government.
But documents filed this week by Flynn with the Department of Justice paint a different picture. The documents say Alptekin "introduced officials of the Republic of Turkey to Flynn Intel Group officials at a meeting on September 19, 2016, in New York."

"Happy Friday...so the wheels are coming off a little bit. If the wheels themselves are not yet off, you're starting to hear the sound of lugnuts stripping their threads and pinging across lanes of traffic while the wheels start to wobble. There's a little bit of a freakout going on right now in Washington..."
~ Rachel Maddow, March 10, 2017









Heated Exchange About Flynn via Yahoo News:
(Sean Spicer, Trump spokesman:) There are certain private citizen's activities that you conduct and you seek counsel on or professional advice. That's not up to the government. And that's exactly how the system worked."
Fox News' John Roberts then asked how that didn't raise a red flag.
Spicer cut him off and said, "You already had your question, John."
But Roberts continued.
"You have an attorney calling the transition that the person who is in line to be the national security adviser may need to register as a foreign agent," Roberts said. "And that doesn't raise a red flag?"
"It's not a question of raising a red flag, John," Spicer said. "It's a question of whether or not they gave them the advice they're supposed to, which is it is not up to them to make decisions as to what you need to do or not do. As you know, there are certain activities that fall under each of these requirements as far as what the threshold is, what activities, who the funding source was, etc. etc....
Another reporter then asked a follow-up question, pointing out that "this was an issue of judgment about who you guys wanted in your administration."
















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Tuesday, November 1, 2016

FBI Director Comey Drops Unethical Email Bomb

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FBI Director James Comey decided last Friday to drop an unethical and possibly illegal bombshell one week before we elect the President of the United States.

As if we haven't heard enough about Hillary Clinton's emails, he suddenly announced that the FBI had found more of them on - wait for it - Anthony Weiner's computer. Yes, "Carlos Danger" had some of Hillary's emails on a computer he shared with his estranged wife, Huma Abedin, an assistant to Clinton.

Why was it necessary to announce this? Were these emails illegal or relevant in any way? Well, that's funny - the FBI didn't even have a search warrant for them until yesterday.

Is Comey trying to help Trump get elected? Everyone believed Hillary was cleared of wrongdoing in the email scandal last summer - by James Comey - and he was praised at the time for being "non-partisan" in his investigation. So what is he now? Um . . . he's in deep manure. Even Republicans are calling for his resignation and Harry Reid says that he has broken the law.

And even worse - Comey is said to have avoided making announcements about the FBI looking into Trump's ties with Putin and Russian banks because he didn't want to influence the election. Well, uh, why only make announcements about one side if you are a non-partisan public official???!!!

From NPR
...Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid says Comey may have violated a law known as the Hatch Act by making the investigation public this late in the election season. In a letter to Comey, Reid said the move revealed a "clear double standard" and accused Comey of using his position as FBI director to influence the election.
"In tarring Secretary Clinton with thin innuendo, you overruled longstanding tradition and the explicit guidance of your own Department. You rushed to take this step eleven days before a presidential election, despite the fact that for all you know, the information you possess could be entirely duplicative of the information you already examined which exonerated Secretary Clinton."
To further his claim of a double standard, Reid also accused Comey of sitting on evidence of ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their official authority or influence to affect the result of an election.

From Charles Blow on The New York Times
On Friday, the F.B.I. director, James Comey, took the outrageous and unprecedented step of sending a letter to Congress announcing that the bureau has “learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent” to the inquiry into Clinton’s personal email server that apparently had been uncovered as part of an Anthony Weiner sexting investigation.

. . . In a letter to F.B.I. employees, he pointed out that “of course, we don’t ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations,” but feebly tried to explain that he was doing so this time, at this crucial moment, so as not to mislead the American people and to “supplement the record.” Then he wrote: “At the same time, however, given that we don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression. In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it.”
“Risk of being misunderstood” is one of the most appalling understatements of this presidential cycle. Comey clearly knew that his ill-advised actions could implicate Clinton by insinuation and he proceeded anyway, presenting his vague letter as an act of valor when in fact it was an act of vacuity. The irony here is that the man who blasted Clinton for being “extremely careless” for her use of a private email server was himself “extremely careless” for inserting himself and his agency into an election with that letter.

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"Donald Trump still hasn't released his tax returns, 12 women have accused him of sexual assault, and he's going on trial for fraud for Trump University in November. But now, the only thing the media is talking about is emails. It's like during the O.J. Trial if everyone was focused on whether or not the Ford Bronco had up-to-date registration."
~~ Comedian Seth Meyers on Late Night





















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