Donald Trump Presidency discussion thread III

mcmoustache

It has been alleged in court that Manafort and Gates were knowingly communicating with a member of GRU.

In a court filing Tuesday night special counsel Robert Mueller alleges Rick Gates, a close associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, knew the two were working with a former Russian intelligence officer during the 2016 election.

The FBI has determined the former officer continued to have ties to Russian intelligence in 2016 and worked with Gates and Manafort in September and October that year. It is not clear whether the two men knew this.

This is coming out because of the Dutch lawyer who plead guilty some time ago.

It accuses van der Zwaan of lying about “his communications with Gates, his communications with a Ukrainian business associate of Manafort and Gates (Person A), and his failure to produce an email between himself and the Ukrainian business associate—all important matters in the investigation.” It also accuses him of deliberately destroying documents.

If the allegations are true and if Manafort and Gates, as part of the Trump campaign were communicating with someone they knew to be Russian military intelligence, then that looks a bit collusiony. Maybe that guy who keeps tweeting about "NO COLLUSION" can't be taken at his word?

everlast75

When asked about Daniels, SHS replied (in essence) DJT is to busy to deal with such questions.

Trump has no public events today. This is his third day in a row without any public events.

Mumha

Just as well he's free today ... !!!

Summons issued to Trump in case alleging he is violating emoluments clause

A summons has been issued to President Trump in a lawsuit alleging he is violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution.

The lawsuit — filed by the attorneys general in Washington, D.C., and Maryland — alleges that Trump is violating the clause, which prevents elected officials from receiving gifts or benefits from foreign governments without Congress’s approval, WAMU reported.

The lawsuit is filed against Trump in his "official capacity and in his individual capacity," according to the Washington, D.C., radio station.

The lawsuit also argues that businesses in Maryland and D.C. have been hurt because groups instead choose to stay at Trump's properties in attempts to get in his good favor.
Last year, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from a liberal watchdog organization arguing that Trump was violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution.

Judge George Daniels of the U.S. District Court for the District of New York dismissed the case on “lack of standing,” agreeing with Trump’s lawyers’ argument that the claims do not fall within the interests of the emoluments clause and should be resolved through the “political process," according to the ruling.

Trump has said his business interests would be put in a blind trust managed by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

Critics and watchdog groups have expressed concerns that foreign officials can patronize Trump's business to curry favor with the president.

Trump's lawyers must respond to the summons three weeks, according to WAMU.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/379691-summons-issued-to-trump-in-case-alleging-he-is-violating-emoluments

everlast75

Nice!

So in addition to a porn star suing him, a former playboy bunny suing him, a former contestant on The Apprentice suing him, the AG of Washington suing him, Mueller pursuing him, him getting spanked (metaphorically this time) by Congress on the Budget, losing about 45% of his staff... he is truly doing spectacular work!

Have I missed anything?

Leroy42

I was under the impression that a sitting POTUS could not be sued or charged?

circadian

Is that two different court summons in 24 hours? It's like they're kicking him on his way down.

weisses

Leroy42 wrote: »

I was under the impression that a sitting POTUS could not be sued or charged?

Its complicated

http://time.com/5123598/president-trump-impeach-criminal-constitution/

Professor Moriarty

Mumha wrote: »

Just as well he's free today ... !!!

Summons issued to Trump in case alleging he is violating emoluments clause




http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/379691-summons-issued-to-trump-in-case-alleging-he-is-violating-emoluments

Judge George Daniels.....hmmm....

Chips Lovell

Hi everyone,
The standard of posting on this thread has gone downhill a lot in recent days and we've gotten a bevy of reported posts. Rather than go back and dishing out multiple cards, I'd like to remind people to read the charter and try to stick to it.

Less of the personal attacks, one-liners, link dumps and image dumps please.

Thanks

Water John

Accepted Mod. But it's very hard to resist, a good punch line, occasionally.

Mumha

Wow, this is a biggie. Since Gates knew he was dealing with a Kremlin spy, then who else knew ? Since Gates has flipped, he is reasonably safe, but anyone else must be seriously worried, if they weren't already, that Gates would have told Mueller about them.

Bombshell Mueller Court Filing Shows Rick Gates Was Knowingly In Contact With A Kremlin Spy
By David Gilbert Mar 28, 2018

Donald Trump’s deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates was in direct communication with a person he knew was a Russian spy in the weeks ahead of the 2016 election, according to court documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller Tuesday.

The documents reveal Gates was in contact with a former officer in Russian military intelligence in the months leading up to Trump’s win.

Gates was “directly communicating in September and October 2016” with an unidentified person who “has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016,” the filing says.

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/mbxgda/mueller-court-filing-rick-gates-trump-russia

Mumha

From the New York Times, It now turns out that John Dowd (who was Trump's personal lawyer until last week), discussed possible pardons for Manafort and Flynn, before they flipped, which is further evidence for Mueller of obstruction of justice. It would only have been appropriate for the WH counsel, Don McGahn, to look into pardons.

Ludo

wow...the doctor who gave Trump the glowing report after his medical becomes a cabinet secretary at VA affairs. That's mad. Nice reward.

Mumha

Ludo wrote: »

wow...the doctor who gave Trump the glowing report after his medical becomes a cabinet secretary at VA affairs. That's mad. Nice reward.

And it's only Wednesday !!!

mcmoustache

Ludo wrote: »

wow...the doctor who gave Trump the glowing report after his medical becomes a cabinet secretary at VA affairs. That's mad. Nice reward.

To be fair, he's probably one of the more qualified appointments that he's made. I think he accidentally did a better job than usual here.

aloyisious

Mumha wrote: »

Just as well he's free today ... !!!

Summons issued to Trump in case alleging he is violating emoluments clause




http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/379691-summons-issued-to-trump-in-case-alleging-he-is-violating-emoluments

Maryland, DC AGs Clear Initial Hurdle in Trump Emoluments Lawsuit
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the attorneys general have standing to bring their lawsuit claiming the president is in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clauses. The attorneys general for Maryland and the District of Columbia are the first plaintiffs to survive a motion to dismiss in a so-called “emoluments” lawsuit, which alleges that President Donald Trump is violating the Constitution by maintaining ownership of his vast business empire while in office.

The report is by Cogan Schneier, originally published on National law Journal site.

I can't locate the name of the federal judge who seem's [in the report] to have rejected a motion to dismiss both AG's joint lawsuit, nor whomsoever put in the motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The site also has this on it's page.... https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2018/03/28/john-dowd-calls-mueller-terrific-after-passing-trump-baton/

StringerBell

It is important to remember that is the lowest bar in terms of what the plaintiffs have to pass to proceed a little further with the suit. They made a claim, there was a motion to dismiss and this lotion was denied.

Nothing to get excited about yet, but it does feel like the walls are closing in somewhat with little attacks from multiple sides and one big one still motoring along nicely.

Thomas__.

Ludo wrote: »

wow...the doctor who gave Trump the glowing report after his medical becomes a cabinet secretary at VA affairs. That's mad.  Nice reward.

I presume that he won't last long anyway, cabinet members of Trump have a very short 'job duration expectency'. He's running his administration like he's running his companies and some know better where and how that ends. He certainly has a 'natural' talent to make as much enemies of his former employees and cabinet members than anybody before him who resided in the WH.

I wonder whether the bookmakers didn't already started to take bets on who's next to get 'fired' by 'the Donald'. First it has been months, then weeks, not it is days, maybe in not so far a future it'll be hours (can't get that low to minutes though). Hard to predict who's going to be the replacement in order to get fired some time as well.

Mumha

Thomas__. wrote: »

I presume that he won't last long anyway, cabinet members of Trump have a very short 'job duration expectency'. He's running his administration like he's running his companies and some know better where and how that ends. He certainly has a 'natural' talent to make as much enemies of his former employees and cabinet members than anybody before him who resided in the WH.

I wonder whether the bookmakers didn't already started to take bets on who's next to get 'fired' by 'the Donald'. First it has been months, then weeks, not it is days, maybe in not so far a future it'll be hours (can't get that low to minutes though). Hard to predict who's going to be the replacement in order to get fired some time as well.

He has to get through a Senate confirmation first ! And can you imagine the fun some of the Democratic Senators will have with him ? He stated that Trump was 6 foot 3 and 239 pounds, which puts him just under the cut off to be classified as obese. He is going to be under oath at his confirmation hearing, and you can bet he's going to be asked about this. There's plenty of evidence that Trump is 6 foot 1, aside from the fact that he probably isn't 239 pounds either !!!

mcmoustache

Mueller has been sniffing around the RNC and their change to their party platform in relation to Ukraine.

Mueller’s team has been asking about a convention-related event attended by both Russia’s U.S. ambassador and Jeff Sessions, the first U.S. senator to support Trump and now his attorney general, said one source, who requested anonymity due to the ongoing investigation.

Another issue Mueller’s team has been asking about is how and why Republican Party platform language hostile to Russia was deleted from a section of the document related to Ukraine, said another source who also requested anonymity.

Mueller’s interest in what happened at the Republican convention in Cleveland, Ohio in July 2016, is an indication that Trump campaign contacts and actions related to Russia remain central to the special counsel’s investigation.

That man's leaving no stone unturned.

aloyisious

Former VA Sec Shyulkin claiming on CNN interview with Anderson Cooper that political appointees to the VA Admin were behind his being fired due to his opposition to "privatization" of the VA and that his trip abroad with his wife and family was notified two [2] years in advance within the Trump Admin, it was well known in advance.

CNN reporting that Bob Mueller may have Rick Gates as a witness against Paul Manafort in the collusion investigation. There is [IMO] an implication that Rick was "abandoned" and has quietly decided to save himself.

everlast75

And sessions refusal to appoint a 2nd special counsel lines the way for him to be fired methinks...

aloyisious

everlast75 wrote: »

And sessions refusal to appoint a 2nd special counsel lines the way for him to be fired methinks...

Either way of viewing JS's decision, a distancing himsellf from the GOP and silliness and/or the same in suspecting his usefulness to Don is close to being over, IMO, it's related to posterity and his personal sense of "honour" and self-worth. He know's Don is ridding himself of frustration, caused by Rob Mueller, by firing people he can fire without real risk on a "you serve at my pleasure" basis so I can dispense with you without backlash. I'm wondering how many memos JS has written contemporaneously over the past year or so.

Manic Moran

Mumha wrote: »

He has to get through a Senate confirmation first ! And can you imagine the fun some of the Democratic Senators will have with him ? He stated that Trump was 6 foot 3 and 239 pounds, which puts him just under the cut off to be classified as obese. He is going to be under oath at his confirmation hearing, and you can bet he's going to be asked about this. There's plenty of evidence that Trump is 6 foot 1, aside from the fact that he probably isn't 239 pounds either !!!

OK, this conspiracy business is going too far.

The man is a highly qualified doctor, starting to work for the White House under Bush, selected to be Obama's personal physician, presumably by a combination of military recommendation and Secret Service vetting. The idea that he is 'Trump's man' is questionable. It's quite possible that Trump made the offer simply because he knows and likes him, which isn't exactly the best reason to do so, but that's far from saying that there is skulduggery going on.

Is he actually well suited for the job? It could certainly be worse. The VA is not purely a healthcare provider, it performs a lot of functions. I got my mortgage through them, for example (A "VA Loan", which is one of the best military perks going), and flight training through the GI Bill. However, that sort of thing is working fine, it's the medical part of the VA which has been under severe scrutiny the last, oh, decade or so. It has certainly gotten a lot better the last two years, but has some way yet to go.

So, this guy is obviously a good doctor. He's had some on-the ground experience in the wars that the current generation of VA patients partook in. He will have fairly limited command experience outside of the hospital, which probably is going to be a different environment and set of problems to running a civilian organisation, so there's no guarantee he'll be good at it. On the other hand, coming up through the military system, it's probably unlikely he'll have the same failings as Shulkin. I've not heard anything about Shulkin doing a poor job, the VA trajectory seems to be positive, and the various veterans groups such as American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America have campaigned for him to be retained, but the issues with money misappropriation probably did need to be dealt with.

Christy42

Manic Moran wrote: »

OK, this conspiracy business is going too far.

The man is a highly qualified doctor, starting to work for the White House under Bush, selected to be Obama's personal physician, presumably by a combination of military recommendation and Secret Service vetting. The idea that he is 'Trump's man' is questionable. It's quite possible that Trump made the offer simply because he knows and likes him, which isn't exactly the best reason to do so, but that's far from saying that there is skulduggery going on.

Is he actually well suited for the job? It could certainly be worse. The VA is not purely a healthcare provider, it performs a lot of functions. I got my mortgage through them, for example (A "VA Loan", which is one of the best military perks going), and flight training through the GI Bill. However, that sort of thing is working fine, it's the medical part of the VA which has been under severe scrutiny the last, oh, decade or so. It has certainly gotten a lot better the last two years, but has some way yet to go.

So, this guy is obviously a good doctor. He's had some on-the ground experience in the wars that the current generation of VA patients partook in. He will have fairly limited command experience outside of the hospital, which probably is going to be a different environment and set of problems to running a civilian organisation, so there's no guarantee he'll be good at it. On the other hand, coming up through the military system, it's probably unlikely he'll have the same failings as Shulkin. I've not heard anything about Shulkin doing a poor job, the VA trajectory seems to be positive, and the various veterans groups such as American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America have campaigned for him to be retained, but the issues with money misappropriation probably did need to be dealt with.

He is one of the better appointments. Low bar though and we absolutely know he was OK with lying with regards to Donald's health assessment. Weight measurements aside he was entirely cool with stating that Trump would be the healthiest president ever (seems incredibly unlikely for an elderly very overweight man). It read like a statement that Trump wrote instead of an actual medical opinion. I feel like the bar for Doctors making unqualified and unverified statements should be pretty high while speaking in a professional capacity.

I can't see him making that statement if he was not a Trump man. He would have been professional about it if he wasn't one. Trump also seems to hire/fire more based on loyalty to him than anything else. And yeah hiring so many duds does get you more suspicion on your next appointments. Like it would it any business if your employee turnover suddenly shot through the roof.

There is no point in the Dems blocking him though. He will be let through.

Quin_Dub

Christy42 wrote: »

He is one of the better appointments. Low bar though and we absolutely know he was OK with lying with regards to Donald's health assessment. Weight measurements aside he was entirely cool with stating that Trump would be the healthiest president ever (seems incredibly unlikely for an elderly very overweight man). It read like a statement that Trump wrote instead of an actual medical opinion. I feel like the bar for Doctors making unqualified and unverified statements should be pretty high while speaking in a professional capacity.

I can't see him making that statement if he was not a Trump man. He would have been professional about it if he wasn't one. Trump also seems to hire/fire more based on loyalty to him than anything else. And yeah hiring so many duds does get you more suspicion on your next appointments. Like it would it any business if your employee turnover suddenly shot through the roof.

There is no point in the Dems blocking him though. He will be let through.

On the surface , yes..

He's a snr military man with a medical background so he at least ticks those boxes.

However he has absolutely Zero administration experience and as others have said the appointment (like all of Trumps hires it would seems) is based far more on personal relationship than on experience/qualification for the role.

He spends a lot of time with Trump (visits him almost everyday in the private quarters of the WH according to reports).

If that's true , then either he's become a close personal friend of Trump or he lied through his teeth about DJTs health and is visiting him almost daily for professional medical reasons..

Neither scenario really instills confidence in his ability/qualifications to run one of the largest government departments in the the US in the manner required.

everlast75

People shouldn't care about his appointment.

By the time the proper objections are gathered, he will have probably either resign or have been fired. I'm not being flippant btw ..there are far more important things he is doing to get worked up about

Christy42

Quin_Dub wrote: »

On the surface , yes..

He's a snr military man with a medical background so he at least ticks those boxes.

However he has absolutely Zero administration experience and as others have said the appointment (like all of Trumps hires it would seems) is based far more on personal relationship than on experience/qualification for the role.

He spends a lot of time with Trump (visits him almost everyday in the private quarters of the WH according to reports).

If that's true , then either he's become a close personal friend of Trump or he lied through his teeth about DJTs health and is visiting him almost daily for professional medical reasons..

Neither scenario really instills confidence in his ability/qualifications to run one of the largest government departments in the the US in the manner required.

I said better. Not good:p. I didn't know about the regular visits though so thanks for that.

Mumha

Manic Moran wrote: »

OK, this conspiracy business is going too far.

The man is a highly qualified doctor, starting to work for the White House under Bush, selected to be Obama's personal physician, presumably by a combination of military recommendation and Secret Service vetting. The idea that he is 'Trump's man' is questionable. It's quite possible that Trump made the offer simply because he knows and likes him, which isn't exactly the best reason to do so, but that's far from saying that there is skulduggery going on.

Is he actually well suited for the job? It could certainly be worse. The VA is not purely a healthcare provider, it performs a lot of functions. I got my mortgage through them, for example (A "VA Loan", which is one of the best military perks going), and flight training through the GI Bill. However, that sort of thing is working fine, it's the medical part of the VA which has been under severe scrutiny the last, oh, decade or so. It has certainly gotten a lot better the last two years, but has some way yet to go.

So, this guy is obviously a good doctor. He's had some on-the ground experience in the wars that the current generation of VA patients partook in. He will have fairly limited command experience outside of the hospital, which probably is going to be a different environment and set of problems to running a civilian organisation, so there's no guarantee he'll be good at it. On the other hand, coming up through the military system, it's probably unlikely he'll have the same failings as Shulkin. I've not heard anything about Shulkin doing a poor job, the VA trajectory seems to be positive, and the various veterans groups such as American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America have campaigned for him to be retained, but the issues with money misappropriation probably did need to be dealt with.

OK, firstly, a conspiracy theory is alleging Clinton is running a paedo ring out a pizzeria in Washington.

Secondly, a conspiracy theory is not suggesting a doctor massaged the figures so a notoriously vain and narcissistic man, with a history of stuffing himself with KFC and Mcdonalds, is just barely under the threshold so he isn't going to be named as being obese. Especially when we have pictures of him standing next to someone who is 6 foot 1.



Thirdly, on the subject of Jackson. He's a doctor and military man, and I listened to a number of former WH democrats saying that he has a lovely manner, but the VA is the HSE on steroids, and then some. A department with a $200bn budget which far more qualified people have been unable to reform.

Trump actually wanted to install Pete Hegseth as VA secretary instead of Shulkin. Another from the Fox News stable of Fox & Friends, he is an advocate for privatising and downsizing the VA, having been CEO of the Koch funded CVA.


https://www.denverpost.com/2018/03/15/pete-hegseth-va-pick-rumors/

Professor Moriarty

Manic Moran wrote: »

OK, this conspiracy business is going too far.

The man is a highly qualified doctor, starting to work for the White House under Bush, selected to be Obama's personal physician, presumably by a combination of military recommendation and Secret Service vetting. The idea that he is 'Trump's man' is questionable. It's quite possible that Trump made the offer simply because he knows and likes him, which isn't exactly the best reason to do so, but that's far from saying that there is skulduggery going on.

Is he actually well suited for the job? It could certainly be worse. The VA is not purely a healthcare provider, it performs a lot of functions. I got my mortgage through them, for example (A "VA Loan", which is one of the best military perks going), and flight training through the GI Bill. However, that sort of thing is working fine, it's the medical part of the VA which has been under severe scrutiny the last, oh, decade or so. It has certainly gotten a lot better the last two years, but has some way yet to go.

So, this guy is obviously a good doctor. He's had some on-the ground experience in the wars that the current generation of VA patients partook in. He will have fairly limited command experience outside of the hospital, which probably is going to be a different environment and set of problems to running a civilian organisation, so there's no guarantee he'll be good at it. On the other hand, coming up through the military system, it's probably unlikely he'll have the same failings as Shulkin. I've not heard anything about Shulkin doing a poor job, the VA trajectory seems to be positive, and the various veterans groups such as American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America have campaigned for him to be retained, but the issues with money misappropriation probably did need to be dealt with.

Shulkin is adamant that the real reason he was fired is because he strongly opposed the privatisation of VA Healthcare. And there is a lot of independent evidence that he was a strong opponent of privatisation within the cabinet since his appointment. In his own words: "I am convinced that privatization is a political issue aimed at rewarding select people and companies with profits, even if it undermines care for veterans.”

Trump says he fired Shulkin "To give veterans more choice". Expect privatisation to happen very soon now.