Two Trump Stories That Caught My Attention
Trump announces $100 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia last month. But . . . if this report is to be believed, “There is no $110 billion deal. Instead, there are a bunch of letters of interest or intent, but not contracts. . . . None of the deals identified so far are new, all began in the Obama administration.”
Well, Trump lying is nothing new. Neither is Trump diverting charity money to his own pocket — although doing so at the expense of kids dying from cancer is a new low even for this cretin. The story is complicated and hard to capture in a simple description or single block quote, so consider the quote below to be a teaser rather than a comprehensive summary of the article. Forbes reports:
[T]he Donald J. Trump Foundation, which has come under previous scrutiny for self-dealing and advancing the interests of its namesake rather than those of charity, apparently used the Eric Trump Foundation to funnel $100,000 in donations into revenue for the Trump Organization.
And while donors to the Eric Trump Foundation were told their money was going to help sick kids, more than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.
All of this seems to defy federal tax rules and state laws that ban self-dealing and misleading donors.
Well, that part is nothing new.
What do you expect Donald Trump to do? Not steal money from kids dying of cancer?
."I like kids who don't get cancer"
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) June 6, 2017
[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]
COME ON, PATTERICO. ENOUGH WITH YOUR “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” I FOR ONE NEVER SUPPORTED DONALD TRUMP BUT NOW THAT HE IS PRESIDENT I WILL INSTANTLY ATTACK ANY CRITICISM OF HIM AS TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME AND THAT IS WHAT I AM DOING HERE. PLEASE JOIN ME IN TELLING PATTERICO THAT THERE IS NO POINT IN PUBLISHING ARTICLES ABOUT LIES OR DIVERTING CHARITY MONEY TO YOUR OWN POCKET BECAUSE SUCH ARTICLES ARE TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME OR AS I CALL IT “TDS.” ALSO WHAT ABOUT OBAMA AND HILLARY, I NEVER SAW YOU CRITICIZING THEM ON THIS WEB SITE EVER. I HAVE HAD IT WITH THIS WEB SITE AND ALL THE TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME I SEE HERE
Patterico (115b1f) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:39 amCome on, Patterico, Trump isn’t Hillary. That’s a plenary indulgence for any wrongs he has committed or will commit in the future.
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:40 amJust checking in to see if the TDS is still going strong. I see it is. I’ll be back in a few weeks. — Mike K
Patterico (115b1f) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:40 amThe new rule for this thread is that every comment must begin with the words “Come on, Patterico.” After that the content is up to you.
Patterico (115b1f) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:41 amCome on, Patterico. I’ll happily play along with the joke 🙂
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:43 amC’mon, Patterico! Trolling your own blog? Fiendishly clever!
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:47 amCome On,Patterico. You probably thought Eric was the nice one.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:51 amGreetings:
Me, I heard that he told a kid with cancer that if he liked his doctor he could keep his doctor.
11B40 (6abb5c) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:53 amGreetings:
Me, I heard that with them Eye-ties what isn’t an opera is a vendetta.
11B40 (6abb5c) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:54 amcome on, [mr.] patterico
mr. trump is a a plum lolly
and the first president we had in like forever whose wife looks better than him
nk (9651fb) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:55 amC’mon Patterico. I read that James Comey is afraid to be in the same room as Trump. He’s a’scared.
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:57 amno no no mr the patterico i think
crappyfeet (8a4f0b) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:57 ammr the donald so goodly not harvardtrash i think
ima drop a lyric from an 80s song and say “lifeydoodles” cos im so dissident clever i think failmerica propaganda slut i think
wow christers im witty
C’mon Patterico. My God, teh barrister comes clean.
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 7:58 amCome on, Patterico. This is more silliness from the corrupt mainstream media, Forbes, joining with the Wall Street Journal from the other day to stupidly attack Trump with facts and reason.
I thought you were smarter than this. What do you expect from people who clearly voted for Hillary because why else would stories like this bother them?
DRJ (15874d) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:00 amGreetings:
On a more serious note, I started watch PBS’s “Charlie Rosie” interview program last evening. His first two fellow travelers were a British woman from “The Economist” or “The Financial Times” and a guy named Cohen, a perhaps former British (but maybe a duality type) now naturalized American who really-really loves America.
The discussion was a masterpiece of propaganda with more than a sprinkling of omissions, insinuations, and speculations. The perfidies of the Obama administration remained deeply buried and unavailable for comparison. After about five minutes, I had to switch over to one of my Korean historical dramas for mental health reasons and the dog’s phsyical safety.
I can no longer convince myself that the Prog-Borg is not intent on driving President Trump from office by any means necessary and that you are willing to make your contribution to that effort.
11B40 (6abb5c) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:08 amCome on, Patterico. Trump is tough. He took away health insurance from his own nephew’s sick baby. Why should he care about kids that he doesn’t even know?
DRJ (15874d) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:10 am11B40:
You and the Rev. should collaborate on a K-soap.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:11 amC’mon Patterico. There is absolutely nothing in Trump’s history suggesting this story to be remotely implausible. Evidence to his complete lack of charactor has been abundant throughout his entire life.
What’s so special about stealing from dying children? Why should they be elevated above contractors, suppliers, wives, investors, attorneys or participants in the Trump University scam?
Is it because they’re easier and completely unwitting? They’re no more unwitting than GOP primary voters and no more deserving of sympathy.
Rick Ballard (4fdfcf) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:16 am10/Happy: that’s been to the benefit of the republic lest the insecurities of a lesser man get the best of them, which is something you dont want to see in a sitting President. Its better off that the President, not the first lady, is a potential tomcat. You would not want a domestic situation like the New Years Eve party from Boogie Nights.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:19 amTwo true statements (in my world, anyway)
Comey was an overly political FBI Director who needed firing.
Trump is a lousy human being, and a lousy President.
Mr. Comey — he is Iran. (Right down to the take no prisoners moralising, and insistance on purity, except when it’s inconvenient)
Mr. Trump — he is Iraq. (Hey, he expresses admiration for Saddam, and he acts like he’s hiding something toxic, except he probably isn’t)
Go have the war gentlemen. Please try not to tear the country apart too much during your cage match.
Appalled (d07ae6) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:23 amC’mon Patterico.
Me, I heard that with them Eye-ties what isn’t an opera is a vendetta.
And sometimes both. See for instance, Cavalleria Rusticana. Or Bellini’s version of Romeo and Juliet (which was based not on Shakespeare but Shakespeare’s source. And which uses a woman to sing the role of Romeo. Not because of Leftist ideology, but because that’s how they did things in those days).
kishnevi (0de685) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:24 amC’mon Patterico.
I can no longer convince myself that the Prog-Borg is not intent on driving President Trump from office by any means necessary and that you are willing to make your contribution to that effort.
The idea is less likely because of two things:
Trump makes so many auto-golpes that one must suspect him to be an active participant in such a plot.
If Trump leaves office, we get President Pence. From a conservative viewpoint, that would be a better result.
kishnevi (0de685) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:28 amulb @19. At 10, it’s me, nk, not happyfeet. I thought writing “wife” instead of “hoochie” would be a dead giveaway.
Although the confusion is otherwise understandable. happyfeet and I were both deported from Saudi Arabia, by the religious police, for being too handsome and irresistible to women.
nk (9651fb) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:36 amC’mon Patterico,
This is a drop in the bucket compared to the Clinton Foundation.
AZ Bob (f7a491) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:41 amCome on Patterico. All presidents use faulty statistics. They shouldn’t, but they do. It would be really something to find a president or a member of Congress who was careful with statistical claims. In fact if someone is not the kind of person to do this they won’t use any statistical justifications at all.
The reason the statistics cited are always wrong is because they delegate the job of justifying a decision to somebody else, and their job is self-perceived as making the best possible case. So they’ll use anything that is around, and there are other people whose job is to lie with statistics. If there is a good case for an argument, still the case can always be made better.
Politicians never get very much pushback when the statistic is faulty. That’s hard to do since everybody does it.
So what happens is is that even if there is a good case for the assertion, it is invariably improved with faulty statistics.
This is no good. It is a sickness that is all over Washington, and in the states as well.
Maybe a really scrupulous person will avoid it, but as I said, such a person will generally avoid using statistical or numerical justifications altogether!
Sammy Finkelman (375edc) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:47 amDo not be naive, kish. Do you believe that when Trump resigns and Pence becomes POTUS, that anything will change beyond the left’s target? Certainly, those who support Trump will more than replace those who preferred Pence in an active, vocal, and perhaps, a physical revolt – which will only embolden the “resistance”. The result will be a net “megative” (mega-negative) for “our” side.
You think Trump’s efforts are useless now. Wait until Pence’s Presidency is held up as a “Republican failure” because [insert MSM meme]! Pence, at best will be a shameful mulligan.
Finally, today’s rancor on this site will seem like the quaint civility of a bygone age when compared to what I expect to transpire once Trump has resigned.
Please, people, let us row, together, preferably in a sane direction. Complain, if you must, but when you put in your oar, please keep in mind that we are all in the same boat.
felipe (023cc9) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:54 amCome on, Patterico. it seems like that if any money at all was redonated to another charity, and that charity spent any money at for golf, it gets counted here. In fact every expenditure by that second charity is now up for criticism.
The use of charitable money for golf tournaments was undoubtably approved of by lawyers. Charities are allowed to use a certain percentage for expenses. (this is not illegal, but the higher the percentage used the less good that charity is considered)
The big question is really, why was any money forwarded to another charity?
It’s really stretching things to look at any of this as a money laundering scheme.
Sammy Finkelman (375edc) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:55 amI could live with an “F-U” re-election in 2020 with a late winter/early spring 2021 handover to Pence.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:56 amC’mon, Patterico! (sorry, I forgot)
felipe (023cc9) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:57 amC’mon Patterico. Teh nothingburger is exposed for what it is… AGAIN. Much to Sen. Mark Warner’s distressed mince over to teh fainting couch chagrin. And we missed General Kelly’s exchange yesterday with Sen. Kamaltoe Harris. She really is Barack Obama in drag.
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:02 amC’mon Patterico… “Trump is telling the courts, loudly and truthfully, this is what I intend to do to secure the country in what I and half the country believe to be an emergency of an existential kind. If the courts constrain my hands, the President will not share political responsibility for the consequences with the courts. Trump is saying that if you (the courts) constrain the presidency, and afterwards, should harmful consequences follow, then you (the courts) will have to own all the consequences. In doing this, Trump has not broken any rules relating to the conduct of litigation. He is not threatening to burn the Court down or stop the Justices’ salaries. But he is doing his very best to make them decide, and if that inconveniences them or makes them squirm, he does not care. This is what Taney did to Lincoln, and this is what Trump is doing to the Court.”
http://reformclub.blogspot.com/2017/06/president-trumps-reverse-merryman.html
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:07 amC’mon Patterico. Teh nothingburger is exposed for what it is… AGAIN. Much to Sen. Mark Warner’s distressed mince over to teh fainting couch chagrin. And we missed General Kelly’s exchange yesterday with Sen. Kamaltoe Harris. She really is Barack Obama in drag.
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:02 am
“There is a lot of smoke. We have no smoking gun at this point, but there is a lot of smoke,” Mark Warner told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
You get a lot of smoke when the FISA regulations are violated by politically motivated unmasking.
AZ Bob (f7a491) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:12 amurbanleftbehind,
Re-election is dependent upon retention and expansion of the revolting prole segment to compensate for erosion among the non-revolting prole segment. Historically, revolting proles get what they deserve far more often than they get what they think they want so Lesser Evil has cut a great deal of work out for himself. Dunno if spastic incompetence is gonna be enough to see him through.
Rick Ballard (4fdfcf) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:21 amC’mon felipe (#26):
Do you think that Trump will actually get done any of his great plans with no staff, no ability to hire one, and the constant churning melodrama he creates for himself and the few people who tolerate being around him?
The GOP is likely doomed for 2020 because Trump. Might be better to have a somewhat competent caretaker for a few years, to keep that doom from being permanent.
Appalled (d07ae6) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:23 amCome on, Patterico. What Sammy says is right. As the captain of the ship, Trump should claim the credit for everything that goes right during his administration, just the same as he accepts the blame for everything that goes wrong and does not blame other people.
nk (9651fb) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:25 amGreetings, kishnevi: ( @ 21 (0de685) — 6/7/2017 @ 8:24 am )
Oh yeah, well I’ll see your “Cavalleria Rusticana” with my Bensonhurst and your “Bellini” with Arthur Avenue.
11B40 (6abb5c) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:25 amCome on, 11B40
I’ve said this before here, but–I’ve had one occasion to drive through north New Jersey in the last few years. It was May. Spring was not yet sprung. Coming off the George Washington Bridge, it was perfectly obvious that the Sopranos and New Jersey were a perfect match.
kishnevi (0de685) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:32 amCome on Patterico, unlike Seinfeld’s move, you’d let Trump give you a big ol’ hug.
Tillman (a95660) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:35 amCOME ON PATTERICO.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:36 amC’mon Appalled,
The GOP has only to decline to remove the stinking albatross of Obamacare from the Democrat’s neck while refusing to fund the Illinois state bankruptcy in order to cling to a thin majority. Swapping antifa for BLM encourages recruiting among the revolting proles rather than discourages while the concentration of the antifa element in the Deep Blue Hells has absolutely no electoral benefit.
Toss in a thin and very decrepit Dem bench, the power scrum between Clinton and Obama and declining donations based upon the Dems having little to offer in return and the situation for the GOP isn’t really too bad, even with the antics of Lesser Evil. It’s not as if many GOP pols are eager to be included in photo-ops with the clown.
Rick Ballard (4fdfcf) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:43 amC’mon Rick:
You really saying the President is 333 rather than 666?
Appalled (d07ae6) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:46 amCome on, Patterico. None of this is Trump’s fault. It’s the fault of all the snooty people who think they are too good to be part of his administration and he has to do everything himself with Obama holdovers and Twitter.
nk (9651fb) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:48 am@1.LOL!
Home run post, Patterico.
What. A. Show!
“Swing for the fences!” – Donald Trump
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:56 amCome on, Patterico.
“ONE OF TRUMP’S GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS HAS BEEN REVEALING HOW CRAZED, PARTISAN, AND UNSERIOUS OUR BEST AND BRIGHTEST ARE.” — Glenn Reynolds
He’s right. Because of Trump, Reynolds has revealed himself as exactly what he deplores in others.
DRJ (15874d) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:59 amGreetings, kishnevi: ( @ 37 (0de685) —6/7/2017 @ 9:32 am )
Jersey’s a perfect match with anyone’s JV.
11B40 (6abb5c) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:00 amCome on Patterico. Yes, we know Trump is an assh0le, a liar and a generally distressing person. But that’s what Democrats expect of Republicans anyway. Bias confirmation, to coin a phrase.
But he’s all we got right now. I hope that he manages to get some good done. The opportunity costs are already staggering.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:27 am@14. Heh. DRJ- ‘C’mon, Patterico” …
“This was calculated disrespect to your commanding officer! All right. There will be no more movies for thirty days… Some of you think you can outsmart me. You’re mistaken. The innocent will be punished with the guilty. There will be no liberty for three months. I will not be made a fool of… I kid you not!” – Captain Queeg [Humphrey Bogart] ‘The Caine Mutiny’ 1954
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:27 amCome on, Patterico. TDS doesn’t stand for Trump Derangement Syndrome. It states for Trump Dissociative Syndrome, where you cheer for a person you hate because what the frack else are you going to do.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:31 am*stands
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:31 amTrump announces $100 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia last month. But . . . if this report is to be believed, “There is no $110 billion deal. Instead, there are a bunch of letters of interest or intent, but not contracts. . . . None of the deals identified so far are new, all began in the Obama administration.”
Bbbbbut, our Captain just told America and a crowd by the Ohio River in Cincinnati he returned from a ‘yugely’ successful overseas trip securing over $350 billion in investments and military commitments. “They like Trump…. They like Trump…. you’re gonna have your jobs…. you’re gonna have your jobs…”
He wouldn’t lie to us- would he?
“D’oh!!” – Homer Simpson [Dan Castellaneta] ‘The Simpsons’ Fox TV
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:36 amHe’s right. Because of Trump, Reynolds has revealed himself as exactly what he deplores in others.
Glenn allowed his blog to become a Trumpist base WAY back in the primaries and it has gotten more “deplorable” ever since. I asked him about it in March last year (How the F can you support someone like Trump?”) and he said that he didn’t care who won, so long as Hillary lost. Purely partisan.
The comment section of Instapundit has become a cesspool. In other news, Happyfeet is over there now.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:36 amI wonder when it will become apparent that Trump’s real problem is that he’s completely ineffectual. He can’t even hire people for high government positions. Of the 550+ political appointments at the various agencies and departments, over 80% of positions have nobody even nominated. This with a rubber-stamp Senate.
That’s not even counting the judges, US Attorneys and other positions that are continuing to bedevil him.
No wall. No deportations. No standing up to China. H1-B travesties continue and more companies outsource. Obamacare will continue yet another year and tax reform isn’t happening. Instead of investigating the MANY MANY abuses of power int he previous administration, the DoJ is overwhelmed investigating Trump’s transition.
Some may oppose Trump because they can’t stand him. I’m willing to hold my nose for results. But without results, or even action towards results, this is just a giant ratfukk.
And again, I go back to the notion that “Trump” is a Democrat plant, there only to discourage the Right and energize the Left.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:48 amRE: Story number 1: One reason this happens is that the numbers don’t mean anything to anybody anyway.
Sammy Finkelman (375edc) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:51 amAll of that, Kevin M., coupled with his consistent and indulged (reflexive) response of blaming everyone for his shortcoming suggests that he is not just unwilling to learn, but actually unable to learn. IOW, I think *this* is the best he will ever be.
Dana (023079) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:52 amAppalled (d07ae6) — 6/7/2017 @ 9:23 am
C’mon Patterico!
Of course not! No President – no matter how great – could, with only half of that baggage*. I am surprised you had to ask. But I am gladdened that you did not ask:
“Do you think that Trump will actually get done
anyall of his great plans with no staff, no ability to hire one, and the constant churning melodrama he creates for himself and the few people who tolerate being around him?”* If one could put aside taking offense at Trump’s intelligence, lack of a clue, and lack of humility, and instead, focus on the great headwind into which he chose to tilt, one might, at worst see a Quixote, or at best, A Lincoln.
That would not have surprised me.
But I do expect him to get some of his not-so-great plans done if only he could stop the tweeting. and get rid of the brood of vipers in “the resistance” that surround him; the useful idiots that serve in the deep state – and replace them with those more salubrious to his administration. A good start has been made in the case of the unlucky “winner.”
felipe (023cc9) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:56 amDoggonit! The graph beginning with the asterisk should have appeared at the end.
felipe (023cc9) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:58 amSo Republicans in the Congress and their sorry-ass leadership have no blame in the current stasis, KevinM?!?! It’s all on the new guy?
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:04 amC’mon Kevin.
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:05 amBrookings the folks who are in hawk with Qatar, which is having a dangled problem.
narciso (c1c566) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:07 amHow about christopher wrays nomination for fun director, or va reforms of anything of actual significance.
narciso (c1c566) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:11 amC’mon Patterico… narrative explodes in their faces… ASPCA, Sparkycuss and Tillie hardest hit.
THERE GOES THE NARRATIVE: DNI Director Dan Coats: “I Have Never Been Pressured,” Nor Have I “Felt Pressure To Intervene.”
Plus: Admiral Mike Rogers: I Was Never Asked To Do Anything “Immoral, Unethical, Or Inappropriate.”
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/266897/
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:23 am52. Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 10:48 am
Well, no.
Yes maybe to damage the Republican Party, but also to LOSE the election!
As was also supposed to be the case with Obama. A sure loser, who would however, grab enough votes to prevent anybody else from stopping Hillary Clinton from getting the Democratic nomination in 2008.
That would, if this is so, make it two times, that Frankenstein’s monster destroyed
FrankensteinHillary Clinton’s election prospects.Well, it did work with Orval Faubus in 1984.
Sammy Finkelman (375edc) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:31 am@61. C’mon, Patterico: Haiku! Gesundheit!
Stonewall, Jackson.
How they felt is irrelevant; what matters is what they were asked.
“All non-denial denials. They doubt our ancestry but they don’t say the story isn’t accurate.” – Ben Bradlee [Jason Robards] ‘All The President’s Men’ 1976
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:36 amYes maybe to damage the Republican Party, but also to LOSE the election!
Swiss Gambit. Lose the first one to set yourself up for the next 5 rounds. I mean, they nominated Hillary, so how serious were they?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:53 amTime to start another Comey thread. His written testimony is out, and all of the networks are hyping his testimony tomorrow as “the Super Bowl.”
I’ve now read his seven-page written statement as submitted by him to Congress today, which doesn’t attach his contemporaneous memos, but which nevertheless hews very, very closely to what Comey (either himself or through proxies) had leaked shortly after he was fired. This surprises me not at all. It all reflects poorly on Trump’s judgment and understanding, but it doesn’t contain anything which, by itself, could be fairly interpreted as an attempt to impede or interfere with an ongoing investigation. Comey himself makes — volunteers! — the point that he had assured Trump that Trump was not the subject of an on-going investigation, and that Trump didn’t say anything about the investigation of Russian interference more generally, instead focusing only on Flynn.
There’s thin smoke, in other words, enough to get the Dems all wee-wee’d up again, but it’s the same wee-wee they did right after Comey was fired, based on his leaks.
A competent examiner could easily get Comey to acknowledge tomorrow — based on “outs” he’s deliberately crafted into his written statement — that his impressions and inferences about Trump’s motivations are the product of Comey’s on head, not directly based on something explicit that Trump said in any of their meetings or phone calls. Too bad there’s no evidence of any competent examiners on either side of the aisle or in either chamber of the Congress.
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:54 am(I ought not have referred to “written testimony” in the first sentence of #65. His written statement is unsworn. But one may assume that he’ll readily testify to all of the same words when asked tomorrow.)
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:54 amI wonder. If the GOP Congress took it into their heads to impeach Trump on the basis of being incompetent, loudly bemoaning the nominating process that produced him, would the Democrats vote to acquit?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:54 amColonel
I could care less what they felt. We have a right to hear what they heard from POTUS. They are fact witnesses, plain and simple.
Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:56 amTime to start another Comey thread. His written testimony is out, and all of the networks are hyping his testimony tomorrow as “the Super Bowl.”
Practically no one will read the written statement. No matter how bland the public testimony is, however, there will be some truffle for the media pigs to dig out and play 24/7. And whatever they choose to play will be “THE” testimony. Nothing else will matter.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:57 amWe have a right to hear what they heard from POTUS. They are fact witnesses, plain and simple.
You have no such right. Neither do I. It is long established that the President needs to have unfettered advice and talking about it publicly is not only wrong, but should be criminalized.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:59 amDuring the primaries, every time I tried to accept Trump, some of his supporters would make me realize my error.
Now, every time I come to accept that Trump is a dander to himself and others, some pissant cretin of a “progressive”* will remind me of what he holds at bay.
——-
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:03 pm* polite word for Goddam Commie
*danger
maybe dander, too
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:03 pmThen let him claim executive privilege…..quite happy to litigate that.
Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:05 pmThere is nothing but yellow journalism going on here. That Trump is incapable of putting an end to the ankle-biters is Exhibit #1 of his ineffectualness, but the charges are completely, um, trumped-up.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:15 pm65. Beldar (fa637a) — 6/7/2017 @ 11:54 am
Competent and honest you mean. You gave a pretty good argument on the other thread that Senator Kamala Harris (D-Cal.) was competent.
Sammy Finkelman (375edc) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:16 pmNo if she were any more clueless they’d try to water her.
narciso (c1c566) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:27 pmChris Wray – yet another great Trump nominee.
ThOR (1e0a91) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:35 pmJust confirming iowahawk findings on the continent
https://www.thelocal.se/20170607/paris-hammer-attack-suspect-worked-as-a-journalist-in-sweden-report/amp
narciso (c1c566) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:44 pmMr. Finkelman, a competent questioner is not one who gets his own team all roused it. A competent examiner is one who extracts nuggets, admissions, building blocks for a competing narrative, by careful ordering and phrasing of his questions, using a mix of leading and non-leading questions very deliberately, so that the hostile witness is bound in the ropes of his own testimony before the questioner hangs the witness out to dry.
Sen. Harris isn’t competent in this sense. She is capable of grandstanding, though, and I surely agree with you that such seems to be much in demand among her partisans. Would that it weren’t also true of Trumpkins. But fair-minded individuals on both sides and in the middle should be able to agree that it makes no sense to have an unconstitutional prosecutor seek an indictment that would promptly be quashed if this investigation results in criminal charges against anyone.
What you mean is not “competent,” perhaps, but “dangerous,” and if so, we can agree on that.
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:01 pm*roused up, I meant.
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:01 pm@#68. See #63.
Exactly.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:16 pmMueller hiring andrew,Weissman of the end in taskforce doesnt inspire confidence
narciso (c1c566) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:18 pmOn the one hand, Wray seems like a good choice as being a former assistant AG.
On the other, he was Chris Christie’s mouthpiece during Bridgegate. Bet you this comes up more than the first part.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:19 pmWray seems like a good choice……..except for the fact that he apparently wants the job.
Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:49 pmCome on Patterico
Too ra loo ra too ra loo rye aye
You’ll hum this tune forever.
Pinandpuller (076027) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:56 pmNabisco, why would you say that? A guy with a proven record of putting away mobsters seems like the ideal choice to assist Mueller in getting to the bottom of the question of Moscow interference with the election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Horses for courses.
Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:56 pm@83. Quote of the Day: “I know what’s going on in the state of New Jersey more than anybody else.” – NJ Gov. Chris Christie, ‘Deadline: White House’ MSNBC, 6/7/17
Except, of course, ‘Bridgegate.’
“Never mind what I told you. I’m telling you!” – Captain Morton [James Cagney] ‘Mister Roberts’ 1955
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 1:57 pmIf that’s not prima facie obstruction of justice given the context, then I don’t know what is.
Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/7/2017 @ 2:08 pmC’mon Patterico
mg (31009b) — 6/7/2017 @ 2:25 pmEver hear of the Anwer Brothers?
Alan brothers. g.d. keyboards
mg (31009b) — 6/7/2017 @ 2:26 pmAwan
mg (31009b) — 6/7/2017 @ 2:27 pmmf.keyboards
Comey: “Satellite associates.”
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 2:31 pmTrump translation: “Sputniks.”
Maybe Comey sticks to what has been leaked from his memo, but does he reveal the context?
What the leaker didn’t tell anyone is that after Donald Trump asked Comey if he could let this go, Comey did, within a day or two.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/politics/fbi-not-expected-to-pursue-charges-against-flynn/index.html
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 6/7/2017 @ 2:44 pmChris Wray – yet another great Trump nominee.
ThOR (1e0a91) — 6/7/2017 @ 12:35 pm
C’mon
Colonel Haiku (b6b19d) — 6/7/2017 @ 3:09 pmPattericoThor! Link Wray woulda been much better! Oh… wait…@77. Chris Wray — yet another great Trump nominee.
Fay Wray — a scream.
“Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!” – George Taylor [Charlton Heston] ‘Planet Of The Apes’ 1968
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 3:19 pm@ Spartacvs, who wrote (#88): “If that’s not prima facie obstruction of justice given the context, then I don’t know what is.”
Yes, I agree. You don’t know what is.
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/7/2017 @ 3:21 pm“If that’s not prima facie obstruction of justice given the context, then I don’t know what is.”
– Spartacvs
It’s not, but it doesn’t really have to be in the context of a political impeachment.
Leviticus (efada1) — 6/7/2017 @ 3:22 pmDoes anyone else get the feeling that Spartacvs was once known as imdw?
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 6/7/2017 @ 3:29 pmI saw the prepared testimony. It is interestng, and Comey seems to have been afraid that a violation of law ight happen.
Comey does give context about the Mike Flynn request, and says this was about the Kislyak conversation.
But Comey thought this was a problem because the FBI is supposed to be an independent investigative agency.
Why is that the only problem? Probably because they had already almost finally decided to close the case. News of that was leaked a day or two later:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/politics/fbi-not-expected-to-pursue-charges-against-flynn/index.html
Comey says the ther people in the leadership of the FBI agreed with him that it was important not to infect the people doing the investigation with this request.
They also didn’t report it to Attorney General Sessions on the grounds he was probably going to recuse himself, and neither would it make sense to tell the Acting Deputy Attorney general because he wouldn’t be there for long.
He then says the investigation moved ahead at full speed.
But according to CNN, somebody immediately leaked that it had been closed (and maybe had been closed already except for the formalities.)
It would have been a manufactured crime, caused by asking Flynn about the meeting after they already knew what transpired and that the sissue of the sanctions Obama had just imposed had been raised.
At the conclusion of an interview, the FBI apparently always tells someone when they have cntadictory information and gives someone a chance to take it back. Mike Flynn half did, talking about his memory, so not pursuing this was as usual. Maybe they have a different policy if somebody stays in an important job.
Sammy Finkelman (375edc) — 6/7/2017 @ 3:34 pmthe takeaway here is that the number of stories about trump that caught your attention is TWO
there were two such stories
That seems about right to me
happyfeet (28a91b) — 6/7/2017 @ 3:45 pmCNN earlier:
Comey expected to refute Trump
“Trump has made a blanket claim that Comey told him multiple times that he was not under investigation.”
“But one source said Comey is expected to explain to senators that those were much more nuanced conversations from which Trump concluded that he was not under investigation. Another source hinted that the President may have misunderstood the exact meaning of Comey’s words, especially regarding the FBI’s ongoing counterintelligence investigation.”
Comey’s written testimony:
1. January 6th Meeting at Trump Tower:
“In that context, prior to the January 6 meeting, I discussed with the FBI’s leadership team whether I should be prepared to assure President-Elect Trump that we were not investigating him personally. That was true; we did not have an open counter-intelligence case on him. We agreed I should do so if circumstances warranted. During our one-on-one meeting at Trump Tower, based on President Elect Trump’s reaction to the briefing and without him directly asking the question, I offered that assurance.”
2. January 27th Dinner at White House:
“During the dinner, the President returned to the salacious material I had briefed him about on January 6, and, as he had done previously, expressed his disgust for the allegations and strongly denied them. He said he was considering ordering me to investigate the alleged incident to prove it didn’t happen. I replied that he should give that careful thought because it might create a narrative that we were investigating him personally, which we weren’t, and because it was very difficult to prove a negative. He said he would think about it and asked me to think about it.”
3. March 30 Phone Call:
“I explained that we had briefed the leadership of Congress on exactly which individuals we were investigating and that we had told those Congressional leaders that we were not personally investigating President Trump. I reminded him I had previously told him that.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-07/
harkin (70fe68) — 6/7/2017 @ 4:13 pmhttp://thefederalist.com/2017/06/07/james-comeys-latest-statement-is-an-indictment-of-comey-not-trump/
narciso (d1f714) — 6/7/2017 @ 4:18 pmCNN Anderson Cooper fake news lol
happyfeet (28a91b) — 6/7/2017 @ 4:21 pmThose first two posts were funny.
steveg (ef1d0a) — 6/7/2017 @ 4:36 pmI’ve come to believe the host sees Trump supporters as the inbred offspring of Jethro Bodine and cousin
Elly May Clampett.
Three quotes:
What more do you need?
Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/7/2017 @ 4:46 pmAlso, probably also not smart to bring up hookers with the director of the FBI……..if he hasn’t asked about them
Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/7/2017 @ 4:50 pm@101. Comrade harkin: ‘Zero Hedge’s content has been classified as conspiratorial, anti-establishment, and economically pessimistic, and has been criticized for presenting extreme and sometimes pro-Russian views.’
Спасибо!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/7/2017 @ 5:01 pmAnd the intercept is puppies and unicorns now?
narciso (d1f714) — 6/7/2017 @ 5:12 pmThey were paying for the bag of ouvno, so it’s relevant.
narciso (d1f714) — 6/7/2017 @ 5:13 pm105… I suspect you will learn how much more is needed very soon, Sparkycuss.
It’s amazing to watch the flailing and vituperation, and amusing as well. They will soon be wailing, gnashing teeth and rending their rompers.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/7/2017 @ 5:32 pm107 -pure Alinsky. Attack the source, ignore the content.
Bring some brandy back with you Gordon, I’m dying.
Victor – Local Hero – 1983
harkin (f611c5) — 6/7/2017 @ 5:36 pmGimps gonna gimp, harkin.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/7/2017 @ 5:44 pmC’mon Patterico. Here’s a story that should interest you and the other counselors…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/06/07/president-trump-continues-to-make-sterling-judicial-nominations/?utm_term=.e417e675d004
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/7/2017 @ 6:17 pmDuring the primaries, every time I tried to accept Trump, some of his supporters would make me realize my error.
Now, every time I come to accept that Trump is a dander to himself and others, some pissant cretin of a “progressive”* will remind me of what he holds at bay.
Yes!
nk (9651fb) — 6/7/2017 @ 6:54 pmComey just said that he made a record of his conversations with Trump because he knew Trump was headed down the toilet. I would add that Comey wants to be the one to flush it. And he just may.
AZ Bob (f7a491) — 6/8/2017 @ 7:41 amIronically, Hillary was cleared on the theory that she didn’t know better. Can Trump use the same defense?
AZ Bob (f7a491) — 6/8/2017 @ 7:43 amResponse by Trump’s lawyer and 45 min or so closed hearing to follow,
Sammy Finkelman (ca4c0f) — 6/8/2017 @ 10:31 am