Trump's Russian Collusion

[RedFromMI]

We investigated the Watergate scandal. We believe Trump should be impeached.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... story.html

17 former Watergate prosecutors wrote this op-Ed.

[Brooklyn]

Not surprised you don't see a difference between asking / requiring the removal of a Ukrainian national and asking / requiring the provision of "dirt" on an American national who just so happens to be your primary political opponent. No difference at all.

[Trinity]

Michael McKinley, a senior adviser to Pompeo, has resigned amid rising dissatisfaction and plummeting morale inside the State Department over what is seen as Pompeo’s failure to support personnel ensnared in the Ukraine controversy, @karendeyoung1 reports

[cradleandshoot]

Really.......why do you do this? her own lie right here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkWsc3IZ73A

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkF2nf7XZIQ

It's right wing tripe. You get as confused as that OTHER ramblin' man here in the boards...and just as far out in right field.

...or was it left out?

..

beyond belief.......why always with the insults. I don't know you people. You don't deserve to insult each other....just stop. At least when I say taats, I am not insulting YOU.

oh...litNup......good idea. ......same stuff, different day here .......

RRR, you engage in these discussions with an insulting tone, frequently.
Folks get fed up.

Best that we all take it down a notch, best we can.

Does that include the vitriol directed at Trump or is that the exception to your rule? We should all love and respect one another... except for that mother effing trump. No one here has taken it down a notch against trump but that does not bother you. I understand the hostility towards Trump but the answer to the Trump problem is at the voting machine. I get it a lot of you folks loath and despise Trump. I get that... then you pee all over yourselves wondering why your own anger has tormented you all so much and then the word master advises us that we should tone it all down. Maybe you should start MD by taking your own damn advice and tone down your own personal hatred... ever thought of that one?

We've had this discussion before, cradle.
I don't call ANYONE "mother effing" or any such, including Trump.

I don't 'hate' him ether.
I do 'hate' certain behaviors and choices he has made throughout his life, and I am disgusted that my predictions of how he would behave in office have come to pass. I was hoping (though not holding my breath) he'd rise to the moment and the office, but sadly that was not to be.

I truly wish he was not such a loathsome person, and a far better President, but the reality is the reality.

If you want to make your points without the profanity, I promise to take your points seriously.
I do reserve the right to disagree and to say why.

On the resolution of this situation at the ballot box, I'm all in.

But that remedy in no way removes the importance of assuring that we do not devolve into an authoritarian stupor in which the President, initially elected or not, is above the law. That notion needs to be thoroughly confronted and if possible thoroughly repudiated.

What profanity MD? The phrase mother effer is used here all the time by any number of posters. Are you also a mind reader that has absolute knowledge to what I mean? Stop your candy ass holier than thou bullcrap. We are probably in about 50% agreement on many issues but you need to stop your Mr Mittens attitude that you are a member of the league of extraordinary gentleman. Just for the record MD... where the fudge were you when Mittens was being eviscerated by the same Democrats you are now in love with? Did you defend him vigorously? Were you upset at the disgusting attacks on mild mannered mittens? If you don't like my profanity MD... I don't really care one little bit. I use profanity when appropriate to express my disgust with the state of our union in general. If you want to keep rambling along with your Mr Mittens nice guy opinion of the world... fine by me. I don't really give a fudge about what you think about my vocabulary. I am more concerned about why you... as some sort of a republican does not seem passionate about anything that tells me you have a set of core values that you will stand with to the bitter end. Maybe you should stop licking your finger and determining the prevailing wind direction before you decide what your opinion is. To be more direct... and I know this is difficult for any casper milquetoast repulican such as yourself... grow yourself a set of balls and take a stand for or against someone or something. I apologize if my rough language made your sensitive nature uncomfortable. My drill instructors back at Ft Benning would have had a field day with your ass. You would have felt offended 24/7

[ardilla secreta]

Current lead story (no joke) on Fox News website:

HOLLYWOOD DIVIDED -- These celebs are joining the fight over Ellen DeGeneres' friendship with President Bush

Are you sure it wasn’t the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping masterminded at the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria?

[holmes435]

Team Ukraine Shakedown had lunch with Rudy at Trump Hotel, went to the airport with one-way tickets and got locked up.

This is one of the most interesting pieces of this puzzle. These guys somehow got tipped off that arrests were going to be made after months of investigation. The question is who leaked it to them. How many people knew? You've got Barr who was notified a half day prior on down to the guys doing the arresting.

My bet is on the Deep State leaking it to them to make Trump look bad.

[Farfromgeneva]

Really.......why do you do this? her own lie right here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkWsc3IZ73A

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkF2nf7XZIQ

It's right wing tripe. You get as confused as that OTHER ramblin' man here in the boards...and just as far out in right field.

...or was it left out?

..

beyond belief.......why always with the insults. I don't know you people. You don't deserve to insult each other....just stop. At least when I say taats, I am not insulting YOU.

oh...litNup......good idea. ......same stuff, different day here .......

RRR, you engage in these discussions with an insulting tone, frequently.
Folks get fed up.

Best that we all take it down a notch, best we can.

Does that include the vitriol directed at Trump or is that the exception to your rule? We should all love and respect one another... except for that mother effing trump. No one here has taken it down a notch against trump but that does not bother you. I understand the hostility towards Trump but the answer to the Trump problem is at the voting machine. I get it a lot of you folks loath and despise Trump. I get that... then you pee all over yourselves wondering why your own anger has tormented you all so much and then the word master advises us that we should tone it all down. Maybe you should start MD by taking your own damn advice and tone down your own personal hatred... ever thought of that one?

We've had this discussion before, cradle.
I don't call ANYONE "mother effing" or any such, including Trump.

I don't 'hate' him ether.
I do 'hate' certain behaviors and choices he has made throughout his life, and I am disgusted that my predictions of how he would behave in office have come to pass. I was hoping (though not holding my breath) he'd rise to the moment and the office, but sadly that was not to be.

I truly wish he was not such a loathsome person, and a far better President, but the reality is the reality.

If you want to make your points without the profanity, I promise to take your points seriously.
I do reserve the right to disagree and to say why.

On the resolution of this situation at the ballot box, I'm all in.

But that remedy in no way removes the importance of assuring that we do not devolve into an authoritarian stupor in which the President, initially elected or not, is above the law. That notion needs to be thoroughly confronted and if possible thoroughly repudiated.

What profanity MD? The phrase mother effer is used here all the time by any number of posters. Are you also a mind reader that has absolute knowledge to what I mean? Stop your candy ass holier than thou bullcrap. We are probably in about 50% agreement on many issues but you need to stop your Mr Mittens attitude that you are a member of the league of extraordinary gentleman. Just for the record MD... where the fudge were you when Mittens was being eviscerated by the same Democrats you are now in love with? Did you defend him vigorously? Were you upset at the disgusting attacks on mild mannered mittens? If you don't like my profanity MD... I don't really care one little bit. I use profanity when appropriate to express my disgust with the state of our union in general. If you want to keep rambling along with your Mr Mittens nice guy opinion of the world... fine by me. I don't really give a fudge about what you think about my vocabulary. I am more concerned about why you... as some sort of a republican does not seem passionate about anything that tells me you have a set of core values that you will stand with to the bitter end. Maybe you should stop licking your finger and determining the prevailing wind direction before you decide what your opinion is. To be more direct... and I know this is difficult for any casper milquetoast repulican such as yourself... grow yourself a set of balls and take a stand for or against someone or something. I apologize if my rough language made your sensitive nature uncomfortable. My drill instructors back at Ft Benning would have had a field day with your ass. You would have felt offended 24/7

I don’t think the laughing emoticon at the end makes this post any less angry. Perhaps he doesn’t need to comment on your use of language but I’ll say that the way you write these things like a retarded soldier who doesn’t understand civility in the rest of the world just makes you look like a guy who shoots rubber bullets at kids who throw the newspaper on your yard rather than put it between the doors. If it’s therapeutic to go apeshit on people all the time here, more power to you, but it doesn’t make any of your comments more persuasive.

[RedFromMI]

Sondland will ignore the State Department and testify/meet with the House Intelligence Commitee next week. Says he has nothing to hide.

Will not turn over documents - says he hopes the State Department will provide them in advance of his meeting with the committee.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/sond ... y-congress

[MDlaxfan76]

Really.......why do you do this? her own lie right here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkWsc3IZ73A

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkF2nf7XZIQ

It's right wing tripe. You get as confused as that OTHER ramblin' man here in the boards...and just as far out in right field.

...or was it left out?

..

beyond belief.......why always with the insults. I don't know you people. You don't deserve to insult each other....just stop. At least when I say taats, I am not insulting YOU.

oh...litNup......good idea. ......same stuff, different day here .......

RRR, you engage in these discussions with an insulting tone, frequently.
Folks get fed up.

Best that we all take it down a notch, best we can.

Does that include the vitriol directed at Trump or is that the exception to your rule? We should all love and respect one another... except for that mother effing trump. No one here has taken it down a notch against trump but that does not bother you. I understand the hostility towards Trump but the answer to the Trump problem is at the voting machine. I get it a lot of you folks loath and despise Trump. I get that... then you pee all over yourselves wondering why your own anger has tormented you all so much and then the word master advises us that we should tone it all down. Maybe you should start MD by taking your own damn advice and tone down your own personal hatred... ever thought of that one?

We've had this discussion before, cradle.
I don't call ANYONE "mother effing" or any such, including Trump.

I don't 'hate' him ether.
I do 'hate' certain behaviors and choices he has made throughout his life, and I am disgusted that my predictions of how he would behave in office have come to pass. I was hoping (though not holding my breath) he'd rise to the moment and the office, but sadly that was not to be.

I truly wish he was not such a loathsome person, and a far better President, but the reality is the reality.

If you want to make your points without the profanity, I promise to take your points seriously.
I do reserve the right to disagree and to say why.

On the resolution of this situation at the ballot box, I'm all in.

But that remedy in no way removes the importance of assuring that we do not devolve into an authoritarian stupor in which the President, initially elected or not, is above the law. That notion needs to be thoroughly confronted and if possible thoroughly repudiated.

What profanity MD? The phrase mother effer is used here all the time by any number of posters. Are you also a mind reader that has absolute knowledge to what I mean? Stop your candy ass holier than thou bullcrap. We are probably in about 50% agreement on many issues but you need to stop your Mr Mittens attitude that you are a member of the league of extraordinary gentleman. Just for the record MD... where the fudge were you when Mittens was being eviscerated by the same Democrats you are now in love with? Did you defend him vigorously? Were you upset at the disgusting attacks on mild mannered mittens? If you don't like my profanity MD... I don't really care one little bit. I use profanity when appropriate to express my disgust with the state of our union in general. If you want to keep rambling along with your Mr Mittens nice guy opinion of the world... fine by me. I don't really give a fudge about what you think about my vocabulary. I am more concerned about why you... as some sort of a republican does not seem passionate about anything that tells me you have a set of core values that you will stand with to the bitter end. Maybe you should stop licking your finger and determining the prevailing wind direction before you decide what your opinion is. To be more direct... and I know this is difficult for any casper milquetoast repulican such as yourself... grow yourself a set of balls and take a stand for or against someone or something. I apologize if my rough language made your sensitive nature uncomfortable. My drill instructors back at Ft Benning would have had a field day with your ass. You would have felt offended 24/7

"What profanity"???

cradle,
The personal stuff doesn't make your legit points any stronger, nor does the profanity.
I take that position regardless of the poster's political lens.
A little profanity here and there is not a big deal, no worries, I'd just suggested that you take it down a notch.

On Mitt,
I was very much a supporter. My wife worked with Mitt back in the '80's at Bain, and I've since followed his honorable career. I've previously detailed that career through my lens of the turnaround of Bain Consulting (demanding that the senior partners put back big dough they'd extracted personally in return for his stepping into the CEO role), to the Olympics, to his time as Governor.

So, yes, it was upsetting that he was smeared by those seeking to discredit him, impugn his honor. The stuff about his activities at Bain Capital were total baloney. I was quite clear about this on LP.

On the other hand, I thought he made a real error in his "47%" flub, but not just that he voiced it but that he actually seemed to buy into the notion that 47% of Americans were on the gov't dole and so were lost to the GOP as voters. It's a specious argument on its face and he's smarter than that. He was playing to an audience that wanted to hear it and that was what was disappointing to me. He was not an adept enough politician to say it differently, eg "47% of Americans are locked into the Dem message at present, but we believe that our message will ultimately prevail and benefit all Americans".

I was also disappointed that he did not effectively refute the nonsense about Bain Capital, which had created far more jobs than lost (many of which would have been lost in the status quo anyway), and the fundamental value of creative destruction in capitalism. They had been far more responsible in this process with regard to workers than most. I thought he could have made that argument better. But he's really not a politician by instinct or training, so I give some of that a pass on net.

On "passionate", I don't need profanity to tell folks what I think about Trump, authoritarianism, his corruption and that of his cronies...

[jhu72]

Really.......why do you do this? her own lie right here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkWsc3IZ73A

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkF2nf7XZIQ

It's right wing tripe. You get as confused as that OTHER ramblin' man here in the boards...and just as far out in right field.

...or was it left out?

..

beyond belief.......why always with the insults. I don't know you people. You don't deserve to insult each other....just stop. At least when I say taats, I am not insulting YOU.

oh...litNup......good idea. ......same stuff, different day here .......

RRR, you engage in these discussions with an insulting tone, frequently.
Folks get fed up.

Best that we all take it down a notch, best we can.

Does that include the vitriol directed at Trump or is that the exception to your rule? We should all love and respect one another... except for that mother effing trump. No one here has taken it down a notch against trump but that does not bother you. I understand the hostility towards Trump but the answer to the Trump problem is at the voting machine. I get it a lot of you folks loath and despise Trump. I get that... then you pee all over yourselves wondering why your own anger has tormented you all so much and then the word master advises us that we should tone it all down. Maybe you should start MD by taking your own damn advice and tone down your own personal hatred... ever thought of that one?

We've had this discussion before, cradle.
I don't call ANYONE "mother effing" or any such, including Trump.

I don't 'hate' him ether.
I do 'hate' certain behaviors and choices he has made throughout his life, and I am disgusted that my predictions of how he would behave in office have come to pass. I was hoping (though not holding my breath) he'd rise to the moment and the office, but sadly that was not to be.

I truly wish he was not such a loathsome person, and a far better President, but the reality is the reality.

If you want to make your points without the profanity, I promise to take your points seriously.
I do reserve the right to disagree and to say why.

On the resolution of this situation at the ballot box, I'm all in.

But that remedy in no way removes the importance of assuring that we do not devolve into an authoritarian stupor in which the President, initially elected or not, is above the law. That notion needs to be thoroughly confronted and if possible thoroughly repudiated.

What profanity MD? The phrase mother effer is used here all the time by any number of posters. Are you also a mind reader that has absolute knowledge to what I mean? Stop your candy ass holier than thou bullcrap. We are probably in about 50% agreement on many issues but you need to stop your Mr Mittens attitude that you are a member of the league of extraordinary gentleman. Just for the record MD... where the fudge were you when Mittens was being eviscerated by the same Democrats you are now in love with? Did you defend him vigorously? Were you upset at the disgusting attacks on mild mannered mittens? If you don't like my profanity MD... I don't really care one little bit. I use profanity when appropriate to express my disgust with the state of our union in general. If you want to keep rambling along with your Mr Mittens nice guy opinion of the world... fine by me. I don't really give a fudge about what you think about my vocabulary. I am more concerned about why you... as some sort of a republican does not seem passionate about anything that tells me you have a set of core values that you will stand with to the bitter end. Maybe you should stop licking your finger and determining the prevailing wind direction before you decide what your opinion is. To be more direct... and I know this is difficult for any casper milquetoast repulican such as yourself... grow yourself a set of balls and take a stand for or against someone or something. I apologize if my rough language made your sensitive nature uncomfortable. My drill instructors back at Ft Benning would have had a field day with your ass. You would have felt offended 24/7

"What profanity"???

cradle,
The personal stuff doesn't make your legit points any stronger, nor does the profanity.
I take that position regardless of the poster's political lens.

On Mitt,
I was very much a supporter. My wife worked with Mitt back in the '80's at Bain, and I've since followed his honorable career. I've previously detailed that career through my lens of the turnaround of Bain Consulting (demanding that the senior partners put back big dough they'd extracted personally in return for his stepping into the CEO role), to the Olympics, to his time as Governor.

So, yes, it was upsetting that he was smeared by those seeking to discredit him, impugn his honor. The stuff about his activities at Bain Capital were total baloney. I was quite clear about this on LP.

On the other hand, I thought he made a real error in his "47%" flub, but not just that he voiced it but that he actually seemed to buy into the notion that 47% of Americans were on the gov't dole and so were lost to the GOP as voters. It's a specious argument on its face and he's smarter than that. He was playing to an audience that wanted to hear it and that was what was disappointing to me. He was not an adept enough politician to say it differently, eg "47% of Americans are locked into the Dem message at present, but we believe that our message will ultimately prevail and benefit all Americans".

I was also disappointed that he did not effectively refute the nonsense about Bain Capital, which had created far more jobs than lost (many of which would have been lost in the status quo anyway), and the fundamental value of creative destruction in capitalism. They had been far more responsible in this process with regard to workers than most. I thought he could have made that argument better. But he's really not a politician by instinct or training, so I give some of that a pass on net.

On "passionate", I don't need profanity to tell folks what I think about Trump, authoritarianism, his corruption and that of his cronies...

We will disagree over just how wonderful Bain Capital was. They were a major player in the downsizing of the American workforce. Today's status quo was made by companies like Bain. It was easy dollars.

[jhu72]

Trump just lost on appeal in federal court to withhold his financial documents subpoenaed by the democrats. We go to the next level where he will lose again.

[dislaxxic]

Quite right, jhu72...more on the story here

"The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a subpoena that House Democrats sent to President Donald Trump’s accounting firm for his financial records and tax returns.

The court issued a 2-1 ruling that the House Oversight & Reform Committee has the constitutional authority to investigate wrongdoing by the president of the United States and can therefore subpoena his financial records in pursuit of that investigation."

tic...tic...tic...

..

[MDlaxfan76]

Really.......why do you do this? her own lie right here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkWsc3IZ73A

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkF2nf7XZIQ

It's right wing tripe. You get as confused as that OTHER ramblin' man here in the boards...and just as far out in right field.

...or was it left out?

..

beyond belief.......why always with the insults. I don't know you people. You don't deserve to insult each other....just stop. At least when I say taats, I am not insulting YOU.

oh...litNup......good idea. ......same stuff, different day here .......

RRR, you engage in these discussions with an insulting tone, frequently.
Folks get fed up.

Best that we all take it down a notch, best we can.

Does that include the vitriol directed at Trump or is that the exception to your rule? We should all love and respect one another... except for that mother effing trump. No one here has taken it down a notch against trump but that does not bother you. I understand the hostility towards Trump but the answer to the Trump problem is at the voting machine. I get it a lot of you folks loath and despise Trump. I get that... then you pee all over yourselves wondering why your own anger has tormented you all so much and then the word master advises us that we should tone it all down. Maybe you should start MD by taking your own damn advice and tone down your own personal hatred... ever thought of that one?

We've had this discussion before, cradle.
I don't call ANYONE "mother effing" or any such, including Trump.

I don't 'hate' him ether.
I do 'hate' certain behaviors and choices he has made throughout his life, and I am disgusted that my predictions of how he would behave in office have come to pass. I was hoping (though not holding my breath) he'd rise to the moment and the office, but sadly that was not to be.

I truly wish he was not such a loathsome person, and a far better President, but the reality is the reality.

If you want to make your points without the profanity, I promise to take your points seriously.
I do reserve the right to disagree and to say why.

On the resolution of this situation at the ballot box, I'm all in.

But that remedy in no way removes the importance of assuring that we do not devolve into an authoritarian stupor in which the President, initially elected or not, is above the law. That notion needs to be thoroughly confronted and if possible thoroughly repudiated.

What profanity MD? The phrase mother effer is used here all the time by any number of posters. Are you also a mind reader that has absolute knowledge to what I mean? Stop your candy ass holier than thou bullcrap. We are probably in about 50% agreement on many issues but you need to stop your Mr Mittens attitude that you are a member of the league of extraordinary gentleman. Just for the record MD... where the fudge were you when Mittens was being eviscerated by the same Democrats you are now in love with? Did you defend him vigorously? Were you upset at the disgusting attacks on mild mannered mittens? If you don't like my profanity MD... I don't really care one little bit. I use profanity when appropriate to express my disgust with the state of our union in general. If you want to keep rambling along with your Mr Mittens nice guy opinion of the world... fine by me. I don't really give a fudge about what you think about my vocabulary. I am more concerned about why you... as some sort of a republican does not seem passionate about anything that tells me you have a set of core values that you will stand with to the bitter end. Maybe you should stop licking your finger and determining the prevailing wind direction before you decide what your opinion is. To be more direct... and I know this is difficult for any casper milquetoast repulican such as yourself... grow yourself a set of balls and take a stand for or against someone or something. I apologize if my rough language made your sensitive nature uncomfortable. My drill instructors back at Ft Benning would have had a field day with your ass. You would have felt offended 24/7

"What profanity"???

cradle,
The personal stuff doesn't make your legit points any stronger, nor does the profanity.
I take that position regardless of the poster's political lens.

On Mitt,
I was very much a supporter. My wife worked with Mitt back in the '80's at Bain, and I've since followed his honorable career. I've previously detailed that career through my lens of the turnaround of Bain Consulting (demanding that the senior partners put back big dough they'd extracted personally in return for his stepping into the CEO role), to the Olympics, to his time as Governor.

So, yes, it was upsetting that he was smeared by those seeking to discredit him, impugn his honor. The stuff about his activities at Bain Capital were total baloney. I was quite clear about this on LP.

On the other hand, I thought he made a real error in his "47%" flub, but not just that he voiced it but that he actually seemed to buy into the notion that 47% of Americans were on the gov't dole and so were lost to the GOP as voters. It's a specious argument on its face and he's smarter than that. He was playing to an audience that wanted to hear it and that was what was disappointing to me. He was not an adept enough politician to say it differently, eg "47% of Americans are locked into the Dem message at present, but we believe that our message will ultimately prevail and benefit all Americans".

I was also disappointed that he did not effectively refute the nonsense about Bain Capital, which had created far more jobs than lost (many of which would have been lost in the status quo anyway), and the fundamental value of creative destruction in capitalism. They had been far more responsible in this process with regard to workers than most. I thought he could have made that argument better. But he's really not a politician by instinct or training, so I give some of that a pass on net.

On "passionate", I don't need profanity to tell folks what I think about Trump, authoritarianism, his corruption and that of his cronies...

We will disagree over just how wonderful Bain Capital was. They were a major player in the downsizing of the American workforce. Today's status quo was made by companies like Bain. It was easy dollars.

That's ok. Our disagreement is respectful.

The 'companies like Bain' is true in so far as you mean the effect private equity had on large public companies having to focus on being more competitive by driving out costs in their supply chain, business processes, etc. Of course, the creative engine that is capitalism necessarily destroys old business models, processes, etc. Combine that with global trade made possible by advances in communication and the disparities in labor rates around the world and, yes, American labor was under immense pressure. Robotics are the current wave of business process destruction and creation.

But the Bain Capital portfolio on net produced far more jobs than were lost in the overall portfolio. That's a fact, though not prevalent throughout the private equity world.

[dislaxxic]

RUDY COLLUDY REPRESENTS FRAUD GUARANTEE FOUNDER

As the author sez, this circle keeps closing in on itself. This story is about one of the four persons arrested (this one still at large, apparently) in this latest degradation of our political system...a guy who is in real estate and fraudulent activity, a "good fit with the Trump organization"

JEEBUS

..

[seacoaster]

Government for sale through Trump's PAC. Nice. Really surprising.

The comments to the article you posted, dis, are even better than the article itself.

[dislaxxic]

"Industrial Strength Toxic NONSENSE"

aka Don the Con himself...this is clearly an experiment gone horribly wrong.

"Like the suspect in the last minutes of every episode of Law & Order or Perry Mason, or Jack Nicholson’s bug-eyed Marine colonel bellowing at the end of A Few Good Men, Trump is a compulsive confessor. He can’t help himself. He wants you to know that he did everything he’s accused of doing, and that he had every right to do it. From abuse of power to witness intimidation, from attempts to benefit from foreign payments—emoluments, one might call them—to a betrayal of his oath to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, Trump’s tweets and public outbursts offer more than enough material to draw up multiple articles of impeachment.

The most flagrant offenses Trump has admitted to so far fall under the broad charge of the abuse of power. Trump has said that he believes Article II of the Constitution gives him the authority to do anything he wants. This, of course, is industrial-strength toxic nonsense. He does not have the right to hijack the Oval Office for personal use, something we know he’s done because the sudden presence of a microphone is, to Trump, more powerful than truth serum.

..

[seacoaster]

On the Giuliani effort to help Il Duce find dirt in Ukraine:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/us/p ... e=Homepage

"Mr. Giuliani dispatched Mr. Parnas and an associate, Igor Fruman, a Belarusian-American businessman, to Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, where, despite fending off creditors at home, BuzzFeed reported, they ran up big charges at a strip club and the Hilton International hotel. Their mission was to find people and information that could be used to undermine the special counsel’s investigation, and also to damage former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a prospective Democratic challenger to Mr. Trump."

America's Mayor!!!!

"Over the past year, the two men connected Mr. Giuliani with Ukrainians who were willing to participate in efforts to push a largely unsubstantiated narrative about the Bidens. They played a key role in a campaign by pro-Trump forces to press for the removal of the United States ambassador to Ukraine on the grounds that she had not shown sufficient loyalty to the president as he pursued his agenda there.

They met regularly with Mr. Giuliani, often at the Trump International hotel in Washington. And all the while, they were pursuing their own business schemes and, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday, illegally funneling campaign contributions in the United States in the service of both their political and business activities.

The indictment, along with interviews and other documents, show Mr. Parnas, Mr. Fruman and their associates as somewhat hapless operators, scrambling recklessly to use their new connections to the highest levels of American politics to seek financial gain while guiding Mr. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, into a Ukrainian political culture rife with self-dealing and ever-shifting alliances."

Perfect pseudo-diplomacy in advance of the "perfect" call!!!!

"The two men did get something useful for their Ukrainian efforts from Pete Sessions, then a Republican member of Congress from Texas, who is not identified in the indictment. It says that after making substantial campaign donations to him, Mr. Parnas asked Mr. Sessions for help last year in pressing the Trump administration to remove the United States ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch. Mr. Sessions subsequently wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticizing Ms. Yovanovitch and seeking to have her dismissed.

Mr. Parnas had told associates that she was not open to his proposals related to the lucrative gas business in Ukraine, where Mr. Parnas pitched a natural gas deal to the chief executive of Naftogaz, as The New York Times reported last month.

Ms. Yovanovitch had also come under fire from a Ukrainian prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, who was connected to Mr. Giuliani by Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman and played a key role in Mr. Giuliani’s efforts to promote investigations into Mr. Trump’s rivals.

While the indictment did not identify any officials by name, it said that Mr. Parnas, in his effort to oust Ms. Yovanovitch, acted, “at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials.”

Mr. Giuliani also said he provided legal advice to Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman after their efforts in Ukraine brought them into conflict with a powerful oligarch, Ihor Kolomoisky.

Mr. Kolomoisky said in interviews in the Ukrainian news media that Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman traveled to see him in Israel in April, ostensibly to talk about their plans to sell gas to Ukraine. But, he said, the two men then pushed him to arrange a meeting between Mr. Giuliani and Ukraine’s newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Giuliani had been seeking to press Mr. Zelensky to agree to investigate the Bidens and Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election, and had been working with Mr. Parnas to lay the groundwork for the effort, as The Times first reported in May.

Upon returning to Ukraine, Mr. Kolomoisky threatened in May to expose Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman. Mr. Giuliani, in turn, posted on Twitter that the oligarch had “defamed” Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman, “and I have advised them to press charges.” He also warned Mr. Zelensky not to surround himself with allies of Mr. Kolomoisky."

Doing America Proud!!!!!

[jhu72]

Quite right, jhu72...more on the story here

"The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a subpoena that House Democrats sent to President Donald Trump’s accounting firm for his financial records and tax returns.

The court issued a 2-1 ruling that the House Oversight & Reform Committee has the constitutional authority to investigate wrongdoing by the president of the United States and can therefore subpoena his financial records in pursuit of that investigation."

tic...tic...tic...

..

My question is why was it only a 2-1 decision?? Some mouth breather on the court that never read the constitution?

PS - was right, a mouth breather. Recent Trump appointee who believes in the "deep state". I know what I am going to be for Halloween - I will dress up as the "deep state". Will scare all the Trumpnista and the kids will have a good laugh.

[Peter Brown]

Quite right, jhu72...more on the story here

"The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a subpoena that House Democrats sent to President Donald Trump’s accounting firm for his financial records and tax returns.

The court issued a 2-1 ruling that the House Oversight & Reform Committee has the constitutional authority to investigate wrongdoing by the president of the United States and can therefore subpoena his financial records in pursuit of that investigation."

tic...tic...tic...

..

My question is why was it only a 2-1 decision?? Some mouth breather on the court that never read the constitution?

My old friends on the left (by which I do not mean Democrats, but the hard left) do not seek honest dialogue, they seek submission (see above). It is a dangerous game of yours JHU72, the inability to engage in honest disagreement but rather demand 100% fealty, because that usually ends up badly for those seeking to dominate. A similar issue is brewing with Ellen DeGeneres sitting with George Bush at a football game...the online left has swarmed Ellen's social media (and now written full articles) denouncing her (a reliable left ally) in rather disturbingly personal terms, similar to how the Young Pioneers turned their parents in to the Soviets.

[jhu72]

Quite right, jhu72...more on the story here

"The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a subpoena that House Democrats sent to President Donald Trump’s accounting firm for his financial records and tax returns.

The court issued a 2-1 ruling that the House Oversight & Reform Committee has the constitutional authority to investigate wrongdoing by the president of the United States and can therefore subpoena his financial records in pursuit of that investigation."

tic...tic...tic...

..

My question is why was it only a 2-1 decision?? Some mouth breather on the court that never read the constitution?

My old friends on the left (by which I do not mean Democrats, but the hard left) do not seek honest dialogue, they seek submission (see above). It is a dangerous game of yours JHU72, the inability to engage in honest disagreement but rather demand 100% fealty, because that usually ends up badly for those seeking to dominate. A similar issue is brewing with Ellen DeGeneres sitting with George Bush at a football game...the online left has swarmed Ellen's social media (and now written full articles) denouncing her (a reliable left ally) in rather disturbingly personal terms, similar to how the Young Pioneers turned their parents in to the Soviets.

Boo!

You mean like the Faux News entertainment crowd and the delusional right wing conspiracy theorists turned on George Will, Joe Scarborough, and George W. Bush for calling Trump out for what he is/was. You mean like that??