Donald Trump presidency discussion thread V

FreudianSlippers

everlast75 wrote: »

The question I had is, after all this time of Mueller being very secretive, why are there leaks now?

I agree - if there are leaks now, they are on purpose.

aloyisious

Ref Don's election "promise" about draining the swamp, I've only lately cottoned on to the fact that the GOP controlled both Senate and Congress when he made the statement. They were the party in charge. Given both facts, who exactly was he going to get rid of in draining the swamp?

People have been saying the vote from the rural areas was against the way things were being run in Washington and that Don took advantage of that feeling to win. Did the GOP not take him seriously about his future actions in Washington as the political status quo was likely to continue and therefore solely to blame for the losing situation they are in?

FreudianSlippers

aloyisious wrote: »

Ref Don's election "promise" about draining the swamp, I've only lately cottoned on to the fact that the GOP controlled both Senate and Congress when he made the statement. They were the party in charge. Given both facts, who exactly was he going to get rid of in draining the swamp?

People have been saying the vote from the rural areas was against the way things were being run in Washington and that Don took advantage of that feeling to win. Did the GOP not take him seriously about his future actions in Washington as the political status quo was likely to continue and therefore solely to blame for the losing situation they are in?

"I'm against the way things are run in Washington" is what racist people said in public when they felt they couldn't be overt with their reasons for voting for Trump - that pretence is gone now.

everlast75

Now we know why Trump went quiet on Twitter for 24 hrs.

Buzzfeed contacted the WH for comment and gave them 5 hours notice.

Eric Swalwell confirmed that Cohen took an oath. He said he was questioned for 8 hours on multiple topics. So lying in relation to Trump Tower Moscow won't be the only incident of "suborning". There will be multiple counts.

He also confirmed that there were other folk, members of Trump's family who may be in the barrel here for lying under oath to congress.

aloyisious

everlast75 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Mimirocah1/status/1086106480338763776






The question I had is, after all this time of Mueller being very secretive, why are there leaks now?

Provocation of Don, with resulting twitter explosions, and Rudy stepping forward trying to plug the dam with statements that provide more info to us.

FreudianSlippers

everlast75 wrote: »

Now we know why Trump went quiet on Twitter for 24 hrs.

Buzzfeed contacted the WH for comment and gave them 5 hours notice.

Eric Swalwell confirmed that Cohen took an oath. He said he was questioned for 8 hours on multiple topics. So lying in relation to Trump Tower Moscow won't be the only incident of "suborning". There will be multiple counts.

He also confirmed that there were other folk, members of Trump's family who may be in the barrel here for lying under oath to congress.

Sounds like Individual 1 might have a blocked number?

kilns

Its hilarious that this is headline news around the world, as this could be the silver bullet but on Fox it cant be found

FreudianSlippers

kilns wrote: »

Its hilarious that this is headline news around the world, as this could be the silver bullet but on Fox it cant be found

It's on their front page, but in fairness the headline is "Rudy rips report Trump told Cohen to lie; Dems ready new probes"

everlast75

Steps that can be taken now..

Issue subpoenas for testimony

Release transcripts from testimony to Mueller

Issue subpoena for his tax returns

Gather committee to investigate if impeachment proceedings can begin

aloyisious

everlast75 wrote: »

Now we know why Trump went quiet on Twitter for 24 hrs.

Buzzfeed contacted the WH for comment and gave them 5 hours notice.

Eric Swalwell confirmed that Cohen took an oath. He said he was questioned for 8 hours on multiple topics. So lying in relation to Trump Tower Moscow won't be the only incident of "suborning". There will be multiple counts.

He also confirmed that there were other folk, members of Trump's family who may be in the barrel here for lying under oath to congress.

I see that it's the House Oversight Committee that MC is to appear before in Feb. Is the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence connected in any way to it and can it's members listen in from the floor.[EC is the ranking Dem on that committee] I assume they can get the days hearing record as members of congress in any case.

everlast75

aloyisious wrote: »

I see that it's the House Oversight Committee that MC is to appear before in Feb. Is the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence connected in any way to it and can it's members listen in from the floor.[EC is the ranking Dem on that committee] I assume they can get the days hearing record as members of congress in any case.

Apparently a lot of the committees want to talk to Cohen. Cohen is ready, free and available to talk to whoever will listen.

Hell hath no fury like a personal attorney scorned..

kilns

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

It's on their front page, but in fairness the headline is "Rudy rips report Trump told Cohen to lie; Dems ready new probes"

Exactly as a supporter of Trump and a Fox fan you would gloss over it as just another nothing story

Penn

everlast75 wrote: »

Apparently a lot of the committees want to talk to Cohen. Cohen is ready, free and available to talk to whoever will listen.

Hell hath no fury like a personal attorney scorned..

There is probably only so much he can say though, as it's likely he may have been asked not to speak about or say certain things that Mueller doesn't want revealed yet.

There needs to be coordination and cohesion between the committees to ensure they're not just dragging Cohen up repeatedly to reveal details on Trump. They need to ensure they don't risk harming the investigation.

everlast75

Penn wrote: »

There is probably only so much he can say though, as it's likely he may have been asked not to speak about or say certain things that Mueller doesn't want revealed yet.

There needs to be coordination and cohesion between the committees to ensure they're not just dragging Cohen up repeatedly to reveal details on Trump. They need to ensure they don't risk harming the investigation.

Agreed.

Perhaps they may be coming at it from different angles, or that they need him to give evidence before them to enable them to prepare their report...

This, by the way, from the gentleman who gets to decide if impeachment proceedings are launched...

https://twitter.com/RepJerryNadler/status/1086253909952348160

kilns

No attack on the fake news or Cohen yet via Twitter its all about Pelosi and the caravan. What is the next distraction he is going to come up with, war?

Dohnjoe

kilns wrote: »

No attack on the fake news or Cohen yet via Twitter its all about Pelosi and the caravan. What is the next distraction he is going to come up with, war?

Cohen's father-in-law apparently

He does need to break the momentum of this though, so yeah I wouldn't be surprised to see him try something extreme, where's N Korea when he needs them

Cody montana

So Is this finally the end?

Dytalus

Cody montana wrote: »

So Is this finally the end?

My gut says no. There have been so many things which have been "The End" for the Trump presidency and then nothing has happened. I'll be genuinely surprised if his topples him.

Itssoeasy

Cody montana wrote: »

So Is this finally the end?

Of the Trump presidency ? Well no but if this report is true(and I don't believe this came directly from mueller btw, that doesn't seem his style) then Donald Trump knows that things are going to get even more messy from here on out. This could be the modern equivalent of the "smoking gun" tape tape from Watergate which if I remember rightly contained Nixon telling one of his administration to lie.It would only be that IF the report is true that mueller has emails, texts, and other documents or basically a paper trail that connects Trump directly and provides rock solid proof that Trump committed obstruction of justice then he is in big trouble.

Penn

Dytalus wrote: »

My gut says no. There have been so many things which have been "The End" for the Trump presidency and then nothing has happened. I'll be genuinely surprised if his topples him.

In fairness though, the Republicans had both the Senate and the House for the past two years. The Dems taking the House and now chairing committees which can open investigations into Trump's dealings as well as subpeona people opens up different possibilities.

I would be cautiously optimistic that it's at least the beginning of the end.

everlast75

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Of the Trump presidency ? Well no but if this report is true(and I don't believe this came directly from mueller btw, that doesn't seem his style) then Donald Trump knows that things are going to get even more messy from here on out. This could be the modern equivalent of the "smoking gun" tape tape from Watergate which if I remember rightly contained Nixon telling one of his administration to lie.It would only be that IF the report is true that mueller has emails, texts, and other documents or basically a paper trail that connects Trump directly and provides rock solid proof that Trump committed obstruction of justice then he is in big trouble.

I read that the source is aware of interviews with members of the Trump Org. Special Counsel's office didn't interview them, so it must be a feds source.

I can imagine the Shutdown can only encourage those in the feds not being paid to get a little bit of revenge, via lose lips.

Fox are bashing Cohen, with or without realising he isn't the source.

Dytalus

Penn wrote: »

In fairness though, the Republicans had both the Senate and the House for the past two years. The Dems taking the House and now chairing committees which can open investigations into Trump's dealings as well as subpeona people opens up different possibilities.

I would be cautiously optimistic that it's at least the beginning of the end.

I do agree we're closer with the Democrats taking the House. But for impeachment to happen they have to turn the Senate. And I just don't see that happening, they've been so stalwartly behind Trump for everything so far.

Itssoeasy

everlast75 wrote: »

I read that the source is aware of interviews with members of the Trump Org. Special Counsel's office didn't interview them, so it must be a feds source.

I can imagine the Shutdown can only encourage those in the feds not being paid to get a little bit of revenge, via lose lips.

Fox are bashing Cohen, with or without realising he isn't the source.

Yeah I saw the secret service put out a statement about them continuing to provide the vital service but also mentioned moral is suffering due to not being paid. So, you could apply that to many other government agencies. well it said law enforcement sources but those two were the only two on the record and there are more.

Itssoeasy

Dytalus wrote: »

I do agree we're closer with the Democrats taking the House. But for impeachment to happen they have to turn the Senate. And I just don't see that happening, they've been so stalwartly behind Trump for everything so far.

Well Mitch McConnell has been but as the partial shutdown has gone on, it's not been all from the one hymn sheet.

Penn

Dytalus wrote: »

I do agree we're closer with the Democrats taking the House. But for impeachment to happen they have to turn the Senate. And I just don't see that happening, they've been so stalwartly behind Trump for everything so far.

Agreed, and that's ultimately what it might come down to. Nixon left of his own accord after striking a deal. Trump very well might dig his heels in, depending on what happens with his family. If he does dig his heels in, it'll be up to the Senate. The question will be, if there's enough evidence against him, would they stick with him? They have no reason not to now, but if the evidence becomes damning enough, they might just cut him loose.

Leroy42

The shutdown is going terribly for both trump and GOP. It is pretty clear that they assumed that the DNC would splinter pretty quickly, esp given that Pelosi is not universally liked in DNC, but it hasn't been that way (they appear to have taken a page from the GOP book).

The majority of the voters blame Trump and the GOP, and the longer it goes on the more frustrated people are going to become as it is clearly a fight that Trump wanted and pushed for. It is really now his own ego holding the whole thing up and the GOP members will start to feel the pressure.

On the one hand the shutdown takes media attention away from the Cohen story but on the other there is warnings of hit hitting the economy and as alluded to in the previous posts it could also lead to leaks etc as workers get increasingly fed up. Add to that and Trump is really boxed in at this stage. He won't really want to end the shutdown, as that basically means a loss of his last standing point (after losing bigly on ObamaCare) and return focus to the likes of Mueller, but on the other it is hitting the GOP and him in the polls, and potentially going to hit the economy.

everlast75

Penn wrote: »

Agreed, and that's ultimately what it might come down to. Nixon left of his own accord after striking a deal. Trump very well might dig his heels in, depending on what happens with his family. If he does dig his heels in, it'll be up to the Senate. The question will be, if there's enough evidence against him, would they stick with him? They have no reason not to now, but if the evidence becomes damning enough, they might just cut him loose.

My understanding is that the Senate Republicans went to him and told him to go, as they had no option but to vote to impeach him.

I can see a similar situation here. Granted, the current Reps appear a craven and morally defunct bunch, but Trump effectively lied to him. That must stand for something amongst the better fraction of then.

Mitch Connor

everlast75 wrote: »

That must stand for something amongst the better fraction of then.

No, being in power is more important than anything else. They see it as a game to win, not a country to govern for the good of the people.

Itssoeasy

everlast75 wrote: »

My understanding is that the Senate Republicans went to him and told him to go, as they had no option but to vote to impeach him.

I can see a similar situation here. Granted, the current Reps appear a craven and morally defunct bunch, but Trump effectively lied to him. That must stand for something amongst the better fraction of then.

Nixon was willing to keep going as long as he had the support of the leadership. It was Barry Goldwater and another senator who went to the white House and told Nixon he didn't have the votes to survive.

Itssoeasy

everlast75 wrote: »

My understanding is that the Senate Republicans went to him and told him to go, as they had no option but to vote to impeach him.

I can see a similar situation here. Granted, the current Reps appear a craven and morally defunct bunch, but Trump effectively lied to him. That must stand for something amongst the better fraction of then.

Nixon was willing to keep going as long as he had the support of the leadership. It was Barry Goldwater and another senator who went to the white House and told Nixon he didn't have the votes to survive.

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