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The Robert Mueller Investigation


Hugo Stiglitz

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Just now, Captainant said:

It's so fucking crazy that there's a court filing in which a party is admitting guilt in coordinating with a political candidate who is now president to suppress damaging news that was within the public interest - AND WE AREN'T SURE IF IT'S  GOING TO MATTER OR NOT! Fucking christ, just imagine the mushroom cloud if clinton or obama had done the same.

We just need to bookmark all of this.  Because the one thing it establishes beyond ANY argument or doubt is that the GOP is fine with all of this sort of shit.  So, when some future dem pulls similar shenanigans, they have ZERO room to complain.  They have established that this sort of thing is fine, and is no big deal.  So that's what it is.

I won't take that approach, mind you, nor should any decent American -- crimes by our elected officials matter.  But all GOP sycophants should sit in the corner and STFU while the grownups in the room have the conversation.

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23 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

We just need to bookmark all of this.  Because the one thing it establishes beyond ANY argument or doubt is that the GOP is fine with all of this sort of shit.  So, when some future dem pulls similar shenanigans, they have ZERO room to complain.  They have established that this sort of thing is fine, and is no big deal.  So that's what it is.

I won't take that approach, mind you, nor should any decent American -- crimes by our elected officials matter.  But all GOP sycophants should sit in the corner and STFU while the grownups in the room have the conversation.

That's cute.  When was the last time you saw video or quoted evidence of a legislator pulling a 180 degree about-face regarding some legal or policy issue, solely because the party involved changed?  Lunchtime?  Before work?  Surely after midnight?

These fucks are as dishonest as the day is long.

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3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

That's cute.  When was the last time you saw video or quoted evidence of a legislator pulling a 180 degree about-face regarding some legal or policy issue, solely because the party involved changed?  Lunchtime?  Before work?  Surely after midnight?

These fucks are as dishonest as the day is long.

The last one I remember was n 76 or 78 when Prop 13, which froze property taxes at sale price was passed with a sizeable majority, against the campaign of then governor Jerry Brown.  When asked the next day if he would honor the vote, he said yes because "I don't learn fast but I learn real good".  Then I did a 180 and thought he was good.

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13 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

You stupid libs don't understand just how terrible Hillary is.

-Onboard 2.0

Her use of private email is much, much worse than Jared and Ivanka and others in the Trump administration doing it. Not to mention George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Colin Powell, and Condi Rice. We've been told for 25 years how evil the Clintons are so her use of private email must be extra bad. 

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Just now, Mdhorn said:

Well, he denied knowing Stormy too. 

I get why he can't be honest about the situation but did he really think no one would ever find out? I don't have money nor do I come from money but do you get to a point where you just think you're untouchable? 

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6 minutes ago, Jograves said:

I get why he can't be honest about the situation but did he really think no one would ever find out? I don't have money nor do I come from money but do you get to a point where you just think you're untouchable

Probably after the 2nd or 3rd bankruptcy, along with countless other legal issues he would just money whip the opposition into capitulation.

Having a Republican senate has also given him a cloak of invincibility.  

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10 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Probably after the 2nd or 3rd bankruptcy, along with countless other legal issues he would just money whip the opposition into capitulation.

Having a Republican senate has also given him a cloak of invincibility.  

Or maybe basing a whole life/career on a series of lies and scams that he's never been called out on?  That'd probably build up your confidence in getting away with....anything.

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https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/12/12/cohen-sentencing-donald-trump-co-conspirator-222938

 

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In sentencing the president’s former fixer, federal judge William H. Pauley III said in open court that Trump had directed his then-lawyer to commit a federal felony. This was in some respects a formality, a confirmation of a conclusion that prosecutors and the United States Probation Office had reached last week. But while it might have been a formality, it was important. No one in that courtroom, including the judge, disagreed that Trump directed Cohen to commit crimes.

 

 

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Trump has downplayed his role, calling the payments a “simple private transaction” and, “only a CIVIL CASE” that would result in liability for Cohen and not him. But he and his Republican supporters do not appreciate what legal analysts do: that the president is in serious legal jeopardy and it is mounting.

 

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When federal prosecutors told Judge Pauley that “n particular, and as Cohen himself now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of [Trump],” they were in effect representing to the judge that their evidence supported that conclusion. There is no question in my mind that the federal prosecutors, particularly their accomplished leader, Robert Khuzami, would have hedged their language if the conclusion were a close call.

The language they used strongly implies that they possess evidence beyond Cohen’s say-so. They wrote that “in particular, and as Cohen himself now admitted,” suggesting they had evidence pointing to Trump’s involvement before Cohen confirmed it. If they relied solely on Cohen, they would have made clear that Cohen asserted Trump’s involvement and they had no evidence to corroborate him.

 

 

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The ultimate target of the New York federal criminal investigation may be the Trump Organization official dubbed “Executive-2” in the charges against Cohen. In paragraph 38 of the Cohen charges, Executive-1 (reportedly Weisselberg) sought approval for payments to Cohen from Executive-2, and then told another employee to “pay from the Trust.”

Who would the chief financial officer need approval from? If it was for a payment from Trump’s own trust, Executive-2 could be Donald Trump Jr. (Trustee) or Eric Trump (Chairman of the trust’s advisory board). Because the payments described in the charges against Cohen involved false statements in the books and records of the Trump Organization, other crimes—including state crimes—could be implicated, and Cohen’s attorney told Judge Pauley that Cohen is cooperating with the New York Attorney General.

 

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An indictment of Executive-2 could potentially include Trump as an “unindicted co-conspirator,” an allegation that the recent conclusion of federal prosecutors strongly suggested could be made. Unindicted co-conspirators, as a matter of Department of Justice policy, will not be named but even with the use of generic titles such as “Individual-1,” the person’s true identity could be obvious. An allegation in an indictment that Trump conspired with Executive-2, Cohen and others to commit a crime could have a significant political impact, as it did when President Richard Nixon was alleged to be an unindicted co-conspirator in 1974. An indictment of Trump could cause Congress to remove him from office prior to the 2020 election, but that isn’t in the offing, given longstanding Justice Department guidance that a sitting president cannot be indicted.

 

Edited by Francisco 2.0
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8 minutes ago, Junior Miller said:

Add in a murdered Hannity, trump Jr, ivanka, kushner, McConnell, Ryan, and Devin Nunes as well. 

 

The rich and political in America are overstepping their bounds and need to be made to heel even if by the barrel of a gun. 

giphy.gif

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8 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

If all of this comes down to the hush money for pron stars, I don't think it matters.  In a world with reason, sure.  But this is 2018.  If you're going to kill the king, you better come hard in the paint with something more than felonious campaign finance violations.  

I think it helped in Watergate that the underlying crime was something that the common man could related to:  breaking and entering.  Here, it is too easy to spin into a paperwork thing.  

 

A second thought I have about this is that the impact of covering up this story is very much in doubt.  If the goal was to keep people from finding out about the affair so as not to lose their support, I think we've seen since the election that he wouldn't have lost their support.  Social conservatives/evangelicals are presumably the ones that would be most affected by personal moral transgressions.  But now that we know about these transgressions, they still love him.  Which leads me to believe they would have voted for him anyway.  I think if there was some big groundswell among those people to say they are revolted by Trump now, then people would think the FEC violations are a big deal.  But there won't be.

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9 minutes ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

Oh, there will be something tomorrow. Trump's the Golden Corral Never Ending Chocolate Waterfall of impeachable offenses. You just have to build your Greatest Hits of a buffet.

 

jeff-foxworthy-golden-hed-2015.jpg

Edited by Dnaguy
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18 minutes ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

I think it helped in Watergate that the underlying crime was something that the common man could related to:  breaking and entering.  Here, it is too easy to spin into a paperwork thing.  

 Wait, are you saying the common man can’t relate to somebody paying off a porn star mistress?  

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1 hour ago, Junior Miller said:

Add in a murdered Hannity, trump Jr, ivanka, kushner, McConnell, Ryan, and Devin Nunes as well. 

 

The rich and political in America are overstepping their bounds and need to be made to heel even if by the barrel of a gun. 

Now it's a party

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2 hours ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

A second thought I have about this is that the impact of covering up this story is very much in doubt.  If the goal was to keep people from finding out about the affair so as not to lose their support, I think we've seen since the election that he wouldn't have lost their support.  Social conservatives/evangelicals are presumably the ones that would be most affected by personal moral transgressions.  But now that we know about these transgressions, they still love him.  Which leads me to believe they would have voted for him anyway.  I think if there was some big groundswell among those people to say they are revolted by Trump now, then people would think the FEC violations are a big deal.  But there won't be.

I'm not sure.  You may be right, but I do think that if you had ripped away all of their values at once, they may have realized it.  It's possible that that was too early in the toad boiling, and the cognitive dissonance of supporting all of the things they used to be against may have been more overwhelming than the cognitive dissonance of turning their back on their new cheeto god.

But of course now it's gone, and we have the garden variety morons and then this weird breed of morally superior nihilists.

Edited by Celery Man
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46 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Among the more remarkable things is the media/politicians ignoring the COVER UP, which is usually worse than the crime. 

It’s like we now expect obstruction of justice. 

He's been obstructing justice since he Fired Comey and then went on national television and admitted to everyone that he fired him in part to obstruct Justice.  How is the media supposed to be covering obstruction from that point forward when not a single congress person failed to do anything in response.

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Among the more remarkable things is the media/politicians ignoring the COVER UP, which is usually worse than the crime. 
It’s like we now expect obstruction of justice. 

And that’s a big part of the reason that we’re toast. The GOP has succeeded in minimizing and normalizing a relentless and multi-layered criminal enterprise by the administration. That’s going to be our new normal after this. Once you go criminal banana republic, you don’t go back. The damage done to our institutions is irrevocable.
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Listening to the explanation of the facts of the pay-off, it struck me that they repaid/reimbursed Cohen several hundred thousand dollars more than he had paid on the Stormy settlement.

So this is not an Einstein moment, but if the payments were NOT in fact for legal fees (no way setting up an LLC and cutting a check to the raw-dogette was a couple G's worth of work), then the money was a "payoff" to Cohen for the illegal act of shutting her up via a campaign financing offense.

but-wait-theres-more-nngflip-com-2348274

You know that some Trump kid cut the check, or Trump did, but more likely Trump because he would want his sons to know he raw-dogged a porn star.  'Cause, fatherhood.

So we also know that any Trump anywhere will lie about anything.  So what are the odds that the Trumps wrote off the payment and the Cohen bribe as a "legal expense" on their company taxes???? Hmmmmm???  What number is greater than 100%?

So the SDNY is always up for a tax charge.  And there can be no doubt that some Trump kid - or Trump - or Trump and the kids - agreed to reduce taxable income by writing off the Stormy and Playmate payments as some kind of shit stain false expense on their taxes??    They got the  Trump accountant.   So I think this is an easy-peasy tax fraud case to prosecute.    Lied about what the money was for, and then lied on their taxes about the deduction and its purpose.  NY State gets a taste of that as well.  

So well done Justice Dept, well done!

imgur>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Gatorubet
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I’m starting to feel more optimistic.  Trump is going to be one hell of a tar baby for the GOP.  The mid-terms showed he’s at least as much a political liability as asset, and that is going to continue to shift towards liability as a very bright light is turned on him and his family in 2019.  The ‘pubs are eventually going to turn on him and try to mitigate the damage to their political brand, but he’s not going to go out with a simple “Et tu, McConnell?”  Trump is a fighter, and he will drag them into the abyss with him. 

2oum9n.jpg

If nothing else, 2019 is going to be a banner year for conservative schadenfreude.

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29 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

Listening to the explanation of the facts of the pay-off, it struck me that they repaid/reimbursed Cohen several hundred thousand dollars more than he had paid on the Stormy settlement.

So this is not an Einstein moment, but if the payments were NOT in fact for legal fees (no way setting up an LLC and cutting a check to the raw-dogette was a couple G's worth of work), then the money was a "payoff" to Cohen for the illegal act of shutting her up via a campaign financing offense.

but-wait-theres-more-nngflip-com-2348274

You know that some Trump kid cut the check, or Trump did, but more likely Trump because he would want his sons to know he raw-dogged a porn star.  'Cause, fatherhood.

So we also know that any Trump anywhere will lie about anything.  So what are the odds that the Trumps wrote off the payment and the Cohen bribe as a "legal expense" on their company taxes???? Hmmmmm???  What number is greater than 100%?

So the SDNY is always up for a tax charge.  And there can be no doubt that some Trump kid - or Trump - or Trump and the kids - agreed to reduce taxable income by writing off the Stormy and Playmate payments as some kind of shit stain false expense on their taxes??    They got the  Trump accountant.   So I think this is an easy-peasy tax fraud case to prosecute.    Lied about what the money was for, and then lied on their taxes about the deduction and its purpose.  NY State gets a taste of that as well.  

So well done Justice Dept, well done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24 minutes ago, Goredho said:

I’m starting to feel more optimistic.  Trump is going to be one hell of a tar baby for the GOP.  The mid-terms showed he’s at least as much a political liability as asset, and that is going to continue to shift towards liability as a very bright light is turned on him and his family in 2019.  The ‘pubs are eventually going to turn on him and try to mitigate the damage to their political brand, but he’s not going to go out with a simple “Et tu, McConnell?”  Trump is a fighter, and he will drag them into the abyss with him. 

2oum9n.jpg

If nothing else, 2019 is going to be a banner year for conservative schadenfreude.

imgur>
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