Trump's Russian Collusion

[Trinity]

Andrew Napolitano: "As frustrating as it may be to have these hearings going on behind closed doors ... they are consistent with the rules. ... When were the rules written last? In January of 2015. And who signed them? John Boehner. And who enacted them? A Republican majority."

[Typical Lax Dad]

Gotcha.

You an engineer by any chance?

No. Was into computer programming before I realized I didn’t really like it. I do like logic though.

[kramerica.inc]

Gotcha.

You an engineer by any chance?

No. Was into computer programming before I realized I didn’t really like it. I do like logic though.

[foreverlax]

Andrew Napolitano: "As frustrating as it may be to have these hearings going on behind closed doors ... they are consistent with the rules. ... When were the rules written last? In January of 2015. And who signed them? John Boehner. And who enacted them? A Republican majority."

GOP set to strengthen committee chairmen's subpoena power

Would Judge Nap be considered human scum by the LIC?

[jhu72]

The concept that the US backed down, moved 30 guys from the border because Trump was afraid of the Turkish military is laughable. Trump wanted to make this move and it had nothing to do with the military facts on the ground.

.. ...Wag the Goat ?

Pompeo, Esper & Milley disagree. They were on the call & recommended pulling back the tethered goats.

Jeffrey testified that they'd been preparing for this contingency since last Dec.
Leaving the observers in place would not have deterred the Turks incursion.

Face saving to make it appear everyone was on the same sheet of music before hand. They clearly weren't! Why did the military claim they had no idea before the event that this was going to happen? They were surprised. Now you guys want to make this sound like it was a plan. Sure it was.

According to Jeffrey's testimony, they were all (including Trump) surprised by Eredogan's abrupt decision to move.
It was a fair warning notification, not a negotiation.
All military to military & diplomat to diplomat indications were that the Joint Security Mechanism was holding & satisfactory.

You will believe anything.

Esper claims he was on the phone call. He does an interview weeks after the event and tells Amanpour that "we were negotiating with the Turks over the SDF and things were going good ......(blah blah blah)". She asks so what happened? Esper's response: "I guess at some point the Turks decided it's not moving fast enough, it's not comprehensive enough, whatever the case may be". That's the reason it broke down - "I guess", "whatever the case may be". He wasn't in the room. He is a kiss ass weasel! One more Trump lover.

I'll go with the guys on the ground who said they were given no warning, no heads up.

[youthathletics]

The concept that the US backed down, moved 30 guys from the border because Trump was afraid of the Turkish military is laughable. Trump wanted to make this move and it had nothing to do with the military facts on the ground.

.. ...Wag the Goat ?

Pompeo, Esper & Milley disagree. They were on the call & recommended pulling back the tethered goats.

Jeffrey testified that they'd been preparing for this contingency since last Dec.
Leaving the observers in place would not have deterred the Turks incursion.

Face saving to make it appear everyone was on the same sheet of music before hand. They clearly weren't! Why did the military claim they had no idea before the event that this was going to happen? They were surprised. Now you guys want to make this sound like it was a plan. Sure it was.

According to Jeffrey's testimony, they were all (including Trump) surprised by Eredogan's abrupt decision to move.
It was a fair warning notification, not a negotiation.
All military to military & diplomat to diplomat indications were that the Joint Security Mechanism was holding & satisfactory.

You will believe anything.

Esper claims he was on the phone call. He does an interview weeks after the event and tells Amanpour that "we were negotiating with the Turks over the SDF and things were going good ......(blah blah blah)". She asks so what happened? Esper's response: "I guess at some point the Turks decided it's not moving fast enough, it's not comprehensive enough, whatever the case may be". That's the reason it broke down - "I guess", "whatever the case may be". He wasn't in the room. He is a kiss ass weasel! One more Trump lover.

I'll go with the guys on the ground who said they were given no warning, no heads up.

Are you a NASCAR fan? You sure seem to root for crashes, failures, blown tires, out of fuel.....anything that is negative.

[jhu72]

The concept that the US backed down, moved 30 guys from the border because Trump was afraid of the Turkish military is laughable. Trump wanted to make this move and it had nothing to do with the military facts on the ground.

.. ...Wag the Goat ?

Pompeo, Esper & Milley disagree. They were on the call & recommended pulling back the tethered goats.

Jeffrey testified that they'd been preparing for this contingency since last Dec.
Leaving the observers in place would not have deterred the Turks incursion.

Face saving to make it appear everyone was on the same sheet of music before hand. They clearly weren't! Why did the military claim they had no idea before the event that this was going to happen? They were surprised. Now you guys want to make this sound like it was a plan. Sure it was.

According to Jeffrey's testimony, they were all (including Trump) surprised by Eredogan's abrupt decision to move.
It was a fair warning notification, not a negotiation.
All military to military & diplomat to diplomat indications were that the Joint Security Mechanism was holding & satisfactory.

You will believe anything.

Esper claims he was on the phone call. He does an interview weeks after the event and tells Amanpour that "we were negotiating with the Turks over the SDF and things were going good ......(blah blah blah)". She asks so what happened? Esper's response: "I guess at some point the Turks decided it's not moving fast enough, it's not comprehensive enough, whatever the case may be". That's the reason it broke down - "I guess", "whatever the case may be". He wasn't in the room. He is a kiss ass weasel! One more Trump lover.

I'll go with the guys on the ground who said they were given no warning, no heads up.

Are you a NASCAR fan? You sure seem to root for crashes, failures, blown tires, out of fuel.....anything that is negative.

Nope just the truth.

[old salt]

The concept that the US backed down, moved 30 guys from the border because Trump was afraid of the Turkish military is laughable. Trump wanted to make this move and it had nothing to do with the military facts on the ground.

.. ...Wag the Goat ?

Pompeo, Esper & Milley disagree. They were on the call & recommended pulling back the tethered goats.

Jeffrey testified that they'd been preparing for this contingency since last Dec.
Leaving the observers in place would not have deterred the Turks incursion.

Face saving to make it appear everyone was on the same sheet of music before hand. They clearly weren't! Why did the military claim they had no idea before the event that this was going to happen? They were surprised. Now you guys want to make this sound like it was a plan. Sure it was.

According to Jeffrey's testimony, they were all (including Trump) surprised by Eredogan's abrupt decision to move.
It was a fair warning notification, not a negotiation.
All military to military & diplomat to diplomat indications were that the Joint Security Mechanism was holding & satisfactory.

You will believe anything.

Esper claims he was on the phone call. He does an interview weeks after the event and tells Amanpour that "we were negotiating with the Turks over the SDF and things were going good ......(blah blah blah)". She asks so what happened? Esper's response: "I guess at some point the Turks decided it's not moving fast enough, it's not comprehensive enough, whatever the case may be". That's the reason it broke down - "I guess", "whatever the case may be". He wasn't in the room. He is a kiss ass weasel! One more Trump lover.

I'll go with the guys on the ground who said they were given no warning, no heads up.

You don't have to be in the room to be on the call.
SecDef & CJCS have a SCIF w/ red phone in their residence.
It was a sched call w/ bullet points.
The guys on the ground are always the last to get the word.
If flows downhill.

[jhu72]

The concept that the US backed down, moved 30 guys from the border because Trump was afraid of the Turkish military is laughable. Trump wanted to make this move and it had nothing to do with the military facts on the ground.

.. ...Wag the Goat ?

Pompeo, Esper & Milley disagree. They were on the call & recommended pulling back the tethered goats.

Jeffrey testified that they'd been preparing for this contingency since last Dec.
Leaving the observers in place would not have deterred the Turks incursion.

Face saving to make it appear everyone was on the same sheet of music before hand. They clearly weren't! Why did the military claim they had no idea before the event that this was going to happen? They were surprised. Now you guys want to make this sound like it was a plan. Sure it was.

According to Jeffrey's testimony, they were all (including Trump) surprised by Eredogan's abrupt decision to move.
It was a fair warning notification, not a negotiation.
All military to military & diplomat to diplomat indications were that the Joint Security Mechanism was holding & satisfactory.

You will believe anything.

Esper claims he was on the phone call. He does an interview weeks after the event and tells Amanpour that "we were negotiating with the Turks over the SDF and things were going good ......(blah blah blah)". She asks so what happened? Esper's response: "I guess at some point the Turks decided it's not moving fast enough, it's not comprehensive enough, whatever the case may be". That's the reason it broke down - "I guess", "whatever the case may be". He wasn't in the room. He is a kiss ass weasel! One more Trump lover.

I'll go with the guys on the ground who said they were given no warning, no heads up.

You don't have to be in the room to be on the call.
SecDef & CJCS have a SCIF w/ red phone in their residence.
It was a sched call w/ bullet points.
The guys on the ground are always the last to get the word.
If flows downhill.

Ah, there you go. He wasn't in the room, he was on the phone. Must have had a bad connection. "Whatever the case may be".

It sure did flow down hill. If it was a scheduled call with bullet points, why did no one bother passing the word of what might be coming?

[jhu72]

Got to love Faux News and the Trumpsuckers. They know they can't make a reasonable argument to explain away Trump's corruption. So they are now rolling out the old "we are going to have a civil war" if Trump is impeached shtick. So says 67% of their viewers. Even have folks sending in twitter messages threatening it.

[wahoomurf]

Those wandering cell-phone wielding, McCarthy is GOD, glute smooching, Republican Congresspersons were JUST LOOKING FOR THE BATHROOM.

Perhaps the "GOWDY WAS WRONG" faction, crossed their fingers behind their backs when they took their oath of office?

Maybe they are attempting to form a 3rd Party. To wit SCOFFLAWS.HUH! The word Scofflaw is a noun and is according, to the OED. a person who flouts the law, especially by failing to comply with a law that is difficult to enforce effectively.

The name doesn't resonate as well as the Know-Nothing, Bullmoose, Green or Federalist parties. Nonetheless, it would be the most EPONYMOUS.

POMPEO G (WEST POINT-really ?) and acting AG BARR (a Whitaker appointee) would be ideal co-leaders of the party.

[old salt]

It sure did flow down hill. If it was a scheduled call with bullet points, why did no one bother passing the word of what might be coming?

Because Erdogan blind sided them.

From Jamie McIntyre, today's @dailyondefense :
In a speech and discussion this morning at the German Marshall Fund, Esper took a far different tone than his boss about the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, and the expulsion of the Kurdish forces who had been fighting ISIS with backing from the U.S.

“Turkey put us all in a very terrible situation. I mean, I think, I think the incursion was unwarranted. I think President Erdogan was fixated on making this incursion for one reason or another,” Esper said. “The U S decision to withdraw less than 50 soldiers from the zone of attack was made after it was very clear to us that Erdogan had made the decision to come across the border.”

US COULD NOT HAVE STOPPED TURKEY: Esper insisted that he had no choice but to pull U.S. troops back, and rejected criticism that keeping American forces in place, or threatening Turkey, would have prevented the assault on the Kurds.

“I was not about to put less than 50 U.S. soldiers in-between a 15,000-plus man Turkish army preceded by Turkish militia and jeopardize the lives of our young service members,” he said during the q-and-a session.

“So everybody has said, well, you could have threatened them with aircraft or you could have just kept them there in place. If I'd done that, I may be in a situation today trying to explain to the American people why I sacrificed American soldiers for that,” Esper argued. “I'm not about to throw up aircraft, and suggest that I'm going to strike a NATO ally because that's just not feasible. We'd be having a different discussion today about the future of alliance if that had happened.”

NOBODY LIKES ISIS: Asked about ceding control of the 20-mile wide border region to Turkey and Russia, Esper stressed the U.S. would seek to continue to work with the Syrian Democratic Forces in other parts of Syria.

“Our partnership with the SDF, which was a very good one and still is a very good one by the way, was about defeating ISIS,” Esper said. “Our commitment to the Kurds was not to help them establish an autonomous Kurdish state and to defend them against Turkey. And that's just the cold hard facts.”

“Look, nobody in the region likes ISIS. We don't like ISIS. Europeans don't like ISIS. Turkey doesn't like ISIS. Syria doesn't like ISIS. Russia doesn't like ISIS, there are probably parts of ISIS that doesn't like ISIS,” he continued “I think there's a lot of us have the shared mutual interest of making sure that ISIS doesn't resurge and become the threat that it was a few years ago.”

[dislaxxic]

Andrew Napolitano: "As frustrating as it may be to have these hearings going on behind closed doors ... they are consistent with the rules. ... When were the rules written last? In January of 2015. And who signed them? John Boehner. And who enacted them? A Republican majority."

Another NASCAR fan, i see...

..

[jhu72]

Andrew Napolitano: "As frustrating as it may be to have these hearings going on behind closed doors ... they are consistent with the rules. ... When were the rules written last? In January of 2015. And who signed them? John Boehner. And who enacted them? A Republican majority."

Another NASCAR fan, i see...

..

Man Napolitano is pissing off a lot of the Trumpsuckers at Fox. Their on camera body language could kill.

[jhu72]

It sure did flow down hill. If it was a scheduled call with bullet points, why did no one bother passing the word of what might be coming?

Because Erdogan blind sided them.

From Jamie McIntyre, today's @dailyondefense :
In a speech and discussion this morning at the German Marshall Fund, Esper took a far different tone than his boss about the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, and the expulsion of the Kurdish forces who had been fighting ISIS with backing from the U.S.

“Turkey put us all in a very terrible situation. I mean, I think, I think the incursion was unwarranted. I think President Erdogan was fixated on making this incursion for one reason or another,” Esper said. “The U S decision to withdraw less than 50 soldiers from the zone of attack was made after it was very clear to us that Erdogan had made the decision to come across the border.”

US COULD NOT HAVE STOPPED TURKEY: Esper insisted that he had no choice but to pull U.S. troops back, and rejected criticism that keeping American forces in place, or threatening Turkey, would have prevented the assault on the Kurds.

“I was not about to put less than 50 U.S. soldiers in-between a 15,000-plus man Turkish army preceded by Turkish militia and jeopardize the lives of our young service members,” he said during the q-and-a session.

“So everybody has said, well, you could have threatened them with aircraft or you could have just kept them there in place. If I'd done that, I may be in a situation today trying to explain to the American people why I sacrificed American soldiers for that,” Esper argued. “I'm not about to throw up aircraft, and suggest that I'm going to strike a NATO ally because that's just not feasible. We'd be having a different discussion today about the future of alliance if that had happened.”

NOBODY LIKES ISIS: Asked about ceding control of the 20-mile wide border region to Turkey and Russia, Esper stressed the U.S. would seek to continue to work with the Syrian Democratic Forces in other parts of Syria.

“Our partnership with the SDF, which was a very good one and still is a very good one by the way, was about defeating ISIS,” Esper said. “Our commitment to the Kurds was not to help them establish an autonomous Kurdish state and to defend them against Turkey. And that's just the cold hard facts.”

“Look, nobody in the region likes ISIS. We don't like ISIS. Europeans don't like ISIS. Turkey doesn't like ISIS. Syria doesn't like ISIS. Russia doesn't like ISIS, there are probably parts of ISIS that doesn't like ISIS,” he continued “I think there's a lot of us have the shared mutual interest of making sure that ISIS doesn't resurge and become the threat that it was a few years ago.”

So instead of just rolling over, Trump couldn't get his good buddy to give him an extra 24 hours to get the word out, so we could pull back in a more orderly fashion?

Give it up. You got a dog that won't hunt.

[a fan]

The newest old standard was sentence first, trial second. Now it's sentence first, no trial at all. Salem witch trials are back in vogue.

Nope.

The "old standard" for both Clinton and Nixon was: the Attorney General appointed an independent prosecutor a FULL YEAR before impeachment proceedings started. And, of course, even longer for Ken Starr's game.

I'm guessing that neither you nor anyone else making this fake complaint about protocol will direct their ire, in their longing for "doing it the right way" to AG Barr, where it belongs. What you should be asking is: Why isn't Attorney General Barr launching an investigation?

And, of course, we all know why. Barr is compromised. Plain as day.

You just want to fling poo at Pelosi, and have zero interest in actual protocol.

Thsi kind of hysteria leads directly to Trump's re-election. Everything's a crisis, every critic has the same talking points; more importantly, every critic has a problem for every solution.....

Something is in the water this week, where when a poster gets proven wrong, they can't help but yell "look, a squirrel"...hoping I'm too stupid to notice that they just don't want to admit to being wrong.

YOU were the one complaining about standards not being followed, not me. And hysterical? Who just brought up the Salem freaking witch trials, and tried to apply it to Pelosi??

All I did is respond to your feigned concern for following protocol.....and told you what the exact protocol was for the last two impeachment trials. Actual facts. I guess I'm supposed to not do that, is that it?

Dude. You fell for Trump "logic" on how this impeachment is "supposed" to proceed. Congrats, you were outsmarted by Trump. Nice job.


So if you're really mad about protocol? Take it up with your Trump-appointed AG Barr. He is supposed to appoint a Special Prosecutor. He hasn't. You don't get to blame the Dems, sorry.

[wahoomurf]

THE “OLD” LINDSEY GRAHAM”. A SAMPLING:

1)Graham called Donald Trump a "jackass"(July 2015) after Trump stated, PUBLICALLY, U.S. Senator John McCain, was "not a war hero".

2)Trump, a brave soldier, reacted by calling Graham an "idiot" and revealed Graham's personal cellphone number at a campaign rally, asking people to call Graham.

3)Trump called for a ban preventing Muslims from entering the United States. (December 2015).

4)U.S. Senator Graham, referred to gameshow host Trump as "a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot”. "He doesn't represent my Republican party”. ”I don't think he has a clue about anything”. “He is empowering radical Islam”. “You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell". "I'd rather lose without Donald Trump than try to win with him".

5)In June 2016, after Trump criticized a judge of Mexican heritage, implying he could be biased, Graham said to CNN: "I don't think Trump is a racist but he's playing the race card… I think it's very un-American ... If he continues this line of attack, I think people really need to reconsider the future of the Republican party". “Graham told The New York Times that this incident "is probably it" for anyone looking to withdraw their support of Trump: "There'll come a time when the love of country will trump hatred of Hillary Clinton, then the rival presidential candidate to Trump.

6)Graham did not vote for Trump in 2016: "I couldn’t go where Donald Trump wanted to take the USA & GOP". Graham instead voted for independent candidate Evan McMullin.

WHAT CAUSED THAT HUMAN MAKE SUCH A SEA CHANGE? (I don’t believe it’s those Polaroids…cold biscuits IMHO)

Today this same biological entity is calling for an amendment to the Constitution. The reason...NOT ONE REPUBLICAN IS IN THE SCIL...NOT A SINGLE ONE. While he may have dozed during his CON LAW class at USC,(I aver CON LAW can be boring), he's finally realized the only way to thwart due process is via an AMENDMENT.

Finally, a Republican get's it.

[jhu72]

Graham throwing a hail Mary trying to convince the world how flawed the democratic impeachment process is. So will it be any better in two weeks when they get the more open process? They will still be complaining IMO. He is complaining the democrats are playing the same game Barr did with the Mueller report. Controlling the narrative.

It is all ear wash. The democrats aren't trying Trump. The Senate will and they will be controlling the horizontal and vertical.

[seacoaster]

Right, this is the party that has thrown around its reputed reverence for the Founders and constitutionalism and the text of the Constitution for decades -- without bothering to understand it, and only until it contravenes their interest in hiding Trump's misdeeds. Graham really is the lowest creature in Congress; at least Jordan and Mathews are consistent with their idiocy.

[Peter Brown]

The newest old standard was sentence first, trial second. Now it's sentence first, no trial at all. Salem witch trials are back in vogue.

Nope.

The "old standard" for both Clinton and Nixon was: the Attorney General appointed an independent prosecutor a FULL YEAR before impeachment proceedings started. And, of course, even longer for Ken Starr's game.

I'm guessing that neither you nor anyone else making this fake complaint about protocol will direct their ire, in their longing for "doing it the right way" to AG Barr, where it belongs. What you should be asking is: Why isn't Attorney General Barr launching an investigation?

And, of course, we all know why. Barr is compromised. Plain as day.

You just want to fling poo at Pelosi, and have zero interest in actual protocol.

Thsi kind of hysteria leads directly to Trump's re-election. Everything's a crisis, every critic has the same talking points; more importantly, every critic has a problem for every solution.....

Something is in the water this week, where when a poster gets proven wrong, they can't help but yell "look, a squirrel"...hoping I'm too stupid to notice that they just don't want to admit to being wrong.

YOU were the one complaining about standards not being followed, not me. And hysterical? Who just brought up the Salem freaking witch trials, and tried to apply it to Pelosi??

All I did is respond to your feigned concern for following protocol.....and told you what the exact protocol was for the last two impeachment trials. Actual facts. I guess I'm supposed to not do that, is that it?

Dude. You fell for Trump "logic" on how this impeachment is "supposed" to proceed. Congrats, you were outsmarted by Trump. Nice job.


So if you're really mad about protocol? Take it up with your Trump-appointed AG Barr. He is supposed to appoint a Special Prosecutor. He hasn't. You don't get to blame the Dems, sorry.

Barr Schmarr. The only story today is Katie Hill. I can barely breathe.

(also if Sarah Palin had a nazi tat near her ‘area’, this board would be in meltdown mode).