Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

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Lord Jim
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Lord Jim »

The Mad King gave quite the interview this morning...


I can certainly understand why he'd feel this way about "flipping":
Trump: Cohen's cooperation with prosecutors 'almost ought to be illegal'

President Trump continues to fume over the betrayal by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, with the president suggesting Cohen’s cooperation with prosecutors should be illegal.

“It’s called flipping, and it almost ought to be illegal,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt in an interview that aired Wednesday. “They make up things, and now they go from 10 years [in jail] to they’re a national hero. They have a statue erected in their honor. It’s not a fair thing, but that’s why he did it.”

“He makes a better deal when he uses me, like everybody else,” the president said. “This whole thing about flipping, they call it, I know all about flipping. For 30, 40 years I’ve been watching flippers. Everything’s wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they — they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go. It — it almost ought to be outlawed.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-cohens ... 45335.html

I'm sure John Gotti felt the same way...


And of course since it's a day ending in a Y , Il Boobce wouldn't be happy unless he provided Bob Mueller with even more evidence of intent for obstruction of justice:
‘I always put justice now with quotes’

Trump renewed his criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia shortly after he was appointed attorney general.

“Jeff Sessions recused himself, which he shouldn’t have done. Or he should have told me,” Trump said. “Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself and then you wouldn’t have put him in. [Yeah? Name one...] He took the job and then he said I’m going to recuse myself. I said, ‘What kind of a man is this?’”

Trump said the “only reason” gave Sessions the nation’s top law enforcement officer post was because he worked on the president’s campaign and was the first sitting senator to endorse him.

“You know the only reason I gave him the job,” Trump said. “Because I felt loyalty. He was an original supporter.”

Trump said he wants to stay “uninvolved” with Mueller’s probe, but that he may act because of what he sees as bias at the Justice Department against him.

“Everybody see’s what going on in the Justice Department,” Trump said. “I always put justice now with quotes. It’s a very, very sad day.”
(same link)

Every day you remain in Office is a very, very, very sad day...



And he also found time to predict economic catastrophe should he be Impeached:
Impeachment talk

That Trump has been implicated in a federal crime has a few Democrats calling for the president’s impeachment regardless of the conclusions of Mueller’s ongoing Russia probe.

Trump said his outstanding record in office should make him immune to impeachment.

“I don’t know how you can impeach somebody who’s done a great job,” he said. “I tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash, [yeah, because that wild-eyed socialist Mike Pence would be President] I think everybody would be very poor, because without this thinking, ["thinking"? Exactly what is this "thinking" of which you speak?] you would see, you would see numbers that you wouldn’t believe in reverse.” Wall Street experts told Yahoo Finance that they aren’t convinced an impeachment would derail markets.

When asked to grade his presidency, Trump didn’t hesitate.

“I would honestly give myself an A+,” he said. [he said, applying the same level of honesty to answering this question as he does to everything else...]
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Big RR
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Big RR »

“I would honestly give myself an A+,”
Once again, you can't make these things up.

Roy

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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Big RR wrote:
“I would honestly give myself an A+,”
Once again, you can't make these things up.

Roy
I think he's confused - he thought it was a question about his blood type.

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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Econoline »

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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Burning Petard »

POTUS on the performance of all the wonderful smart people he has hired, in particular, the Attorney General:

"He took the job. Then he recused himself. What kind of man is that?"

I guess the kind of man Donald has rarely come in contact with--a man with some degree of ethics and personal honor.

snailgate.

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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by BoSoxGal »

Yeah; it’s pretty disgusting that one of the few ‘heroes’ of this administration ends up being Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III.

Kelley Conway was just on CNN lying through her teeth to Chris Cuomo; that woman inspires in me violent fantasies, and I would love nothing more than 10 minutes in a UFC ring with her ugly scrawny ass. Then with Ivanka. :evil:
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
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Lord Jim
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Lord Jim »

I can't tell you how much I hope there are emails. Many many emails.
And tapes. Tapes would be nice too...


And there's this:
AP: National Enquirer hid damaging Trump stories in a safe

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press.

The detail came as several media outlets reported on Thursday that federal prosecutors had granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.

Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty this week to campaign finance violations alleging he, Trump and the tabloid were involved in buying the silence of a porn actress and a Playboy model who alleged affairs with Trump.

Five people familiar with the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because they signed non-disclosure agreements, said the safe was a great source of power for Pecker, the company’s CEO.

The Trump records were stored alongside similar documents pertaining to other celebrities’ catch-and-kill deals, in which exclusive rights to people’s stories were bought with no intention of publishing to keep them out of the news. By keeping celebrities’ embarrassing secrets, the company was able to ingratiate itself with them and ask for favors in return.

But after The Wall Street Journal initially published the first details of Playboy model Karen McDougal’s catch-and-kill deal shortly before the 2016 election, those assets became a liability. Fearful that the documents might be used against American Media, Pecker and the company’s chief content officer, Dylan Howard, removed them from the safe in the weeks before Trump’s inauguration, according to one person directly familiar with the events.

It was unclear whether the documents were destroyed or simply were moved to a location known to fewer people. [Man, I'm sure hoping it's the latter...]

Jerry George, a longtime Enquirer reporter who left the publication in 2013, said the practice of catch and kill took root at the Enquirer under Pecker. Though George had no personal knowledge of Trump-specific catch and kills, he said that AMI generally paid hush money only if it believed it had something to gain.

“It’s ‘I did this for you,’ now what can you do for me,” George said. “They always got something in return.”

Catch and kills were loathed by the National Enquirer’s reporters, he said, because they robbed the publication of juicy stories.

American Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://apnews.com/143be3c52d4746af8546 ... mp-stories
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Lord Jim »

Speaking of flipping...

The Feds got the bookkeeper...

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Prosecutors Grant Immunity to Trump Organization CFO in Possibly Ominous Sign for President

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, whom the paper calls Trump’s “financial gatekeeper,” has been granted immunity by federal prosecutors for giving them information about Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts in court this week.

Weisselberg authorized the $420,000 payment made by Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, which was at the heart of the charges against Trump’s ex-lawyer.

The news of Weisselberg’s cooperation is potentially catastrophic for President Trump. Weisselberg knows the ins and outs of the Trump Organization finances in intimate detail. If there is more impropriety to be uncovered in that arena of the president’s life beyond Cohen’s payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal — and at this point, it would be surprising if there weren’t — he would likely be authorities’ top choice to tell them about it.

His involvement may also explain why federal authorities did not gain Cohen’s full cooperation during their probe: They may not have needed to, given Weisselberg’s superior knowledge of Trump’s finances.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/20 ... n-cfo.html
Last edited by Lord Jim on Fri Aug 24, 2018 4:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Lord Jim »

Here's a YouTube video for you wes....

In honor of this week's Russiagate developments:

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Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by RayThom »

Liar, Liar... pants on fire! Pick a lie, any lie.

In 558 days, President Trump has made 4,229 false or misleading claims
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics ... f69ca1c28b
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Econoline »

Lord Jim wrote:Here's a YouTube video for you wes....

In honor of this week's Russiagate developments:

If Pecker is now flipping, is Flipper now pecking?





ETA: I just looked it up, and apparently none of the bottlenose dolphins who played Flipper on TV had a pecker!
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

This could go in any number of threads; but Trump has tweeted a few hours ago as follows:
Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff ......
If ever there was a more blatant attempt to obstruct justice in the name of politics, I've not seen it. This is a confession. Nothing more nothing less. This should be Exhibit A; and the spineless creeps that run the Senate and the House of Representatives should be in no doubt about a response. Time to return the Presidency to one of the three equal branches of government - there's a reason that the Presidency was not Article 1 but Article 2. It should not even be prima inter pares (first among equals) which is the polite fiction which underpins the Prime Ministership of the UK.

Astonishing that Jeff Sessions is seen as a man of integrity and honor.

Edited to add: tomorrow is the start of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. I would be astonished if this does not come up. "BTW judge Kavanaugh: what do you think of the President's attempt to bully his AG, yesterday?" - or words to that effect.

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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

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Have a nice weekend Donnie:
Trump ex-campaign head Manafort to cooperate with Russia probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will cooperate with the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, prosecutors said on Friday, a dramatic turnaround that deals the U.S. president a political setback.

After months of refusing to assist Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into Russian interference and possible coordination between Trump campaign members and Moscow, Manafort took a plea deal and agreed to cooperate in return for reduced charges.

It was not immediately clear what information about Trump that Manafort, a longtime Republican political consultant who ran the campaign as it took off in mid-2016, could offer prosecutors.

But Friday's announcement was a political blow to Trump's presidency ahead of Nov. 6 congressional elections that will determine whether or not Republicans maintain control of Congress.

Manafort, 69, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington on Friday to counts of conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice, becoming the most prominent former Trump campaign official to plead guilty in Mueller's investigation.

He had other charges dropped but could still face 10 years in prison on the two charges in Washington. In August, Manafort was convicted at trial in Alexandria, Virginia, on charges that pre-dated his stint on the Trump campaign and involved his work with pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-trump ... ector.html

So apparently Manafort wasn't refusing to flip because he feared retribution from his former Russian oligarch paymasters, or because he was convinced he'd get a pardon...(Despite all the hints and pardon dangling Trump has done, Manafort...like Flynn...knows Trump well enough to realize he can't count on anything from him...)

With those two explanations no longer operative the only thing I can come up with to explain why he waited as long as he did was that he was arrogant enough to believe despite all the evidence against him that he could actually beat the rap...

The results of the first trial apparently roused him from this fantasy...

Obviously a guy who's sitting at home with an ankle monitor bracelet on each ankle who decides that would be a good time to attempt some witness tampering, ain't exactly lacking in the arrogance department...
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by wesw »

still nothing to do with trump, as his charges had nothing to do with trump.

manafort will assist with more useless indictments against Russians who will never again set foot on U.S. soil.

bravo, mr crooked pants, bravo.....

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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Big RR »

We shall see wes; here's another guy who knows the inside information and has agreed to cooperate; I look forward to seeing what turns up--I'd bet it's good.

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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Lord Jim »

still nothing to do with trump, as his charges had nothing to do with trump.
Yeah, you just keep a whistlin' past that graveyard wes...

You have absolutely no idea what Manafort may have to say, (or what documents or tapes he may have to provide) regarding the Trump Tower meeting with the Russian agents and Trump's knowledge of it, or any other collusion he may have engaged in with the Russians while he was running the campaign, (like the change in the GOP platform about Ukraine) and Trump's knowledge of those activities...(Maybe he also has evidence to provide regarding Trump's prior knowledge about the Russian email hacking)

The scope of the cooperation he will now have to engage in will be broad and sweeping; it will cover everything related to his interactions with the Russians and Trump, (including any business dealings he might have knowledge of that pre-dates the campaign) as well other principles close to Trump, (like Jared and Don Jr.)

I can assure you that Manafort's cooperation will in no way be limited just to anything directly related to the charges against him...

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Lord Jim
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Lord Jim »

In any event, I'd bet that we've seen the last of Il Boobce and Rudy The Clown talking about what an "honorable man" Manafort is...

Now he'll probably be Paulie The Rat...
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Econoline »

WaPo:
  • Kevin Downing, an attorney for Manafort, gave a brief statement outside the courthouse after the hearing. “He wanted to make sure his family remained safe and live a good life,” Downing said of Manafort. “He has accepted responsibility.”

So maybe what he wanted was some sort of guarantee that the government would be able to protect his family from Russian retaliation?
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by Econoline »

And don't forget Paul Manafort got Mike Pence the VP job:
  • First reported by the New York Post, an indecisive Trump had initially decided on Christie after the New Jersey governor made his final case to Trump on July 12. Christie, the first former presidential candidate to get behind Trump after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary, had assumed a high profile role on the campaign prior to the Convention – reaching out to donors and potential high profile supporters. Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager at the time, allegedly had another idea in mind.

    Manafort had arranged for Trump to meet with his first choice for the job on July 13: Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Afterwards, the plans was for Trump and Pence to then fly back to New York together and a formal announcement would be made, a campaign source said of Manafort’s thinking. What had previously been reported as a “lucky break” by the New York Times was actually a swift political maneuver devised by the now fired campaign manager. Set on changing Trump’s mind, he concocted a story that Trump’s plane had mechanical problems, forcing the soon-to-be Republican nominee to stay the night in Indianapolis for breakfast with the Pence family on Wednesday morning.
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Re: Bill Of Impeachment: Article I, Obstruction Of Justice

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Manifort would not have been offered a plea deal if the prosecutors were not sure about what they would get in return.

Legal question: if Trump quickly pardons Manifort before he sits down with prosecutors, can he just walk away?

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