Comrade Trump

[Lost Student]

My grandfather was a purple heart recipient from his service in WW2. To show Drumpf with one is pretty shitty.

[SoCalCoug]

I’ll just leave this here... I think Frank will like it.




Sent from my iPhone and not some dumb Chinese android POS.

Is that from Mike Lee's presentation to Congress?

[frank ryan]

I’ll just leave this here... I think Frank will like it.




Sent from my iPhone and not some dumb Chinese android POS.

Thanks Ted, always good to check in on your twitter feed.

[Uncle Ted]

William Barr Testimony Highlights: Government ‘Spying Did Occur’ on Trump Campaign
[...]
“I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” Mr. Barr said, adding that he believed “spying did occur.” Mr. Trump and his allies have accused the F.B.I. and other government officials of abusing their power and cooking up the Russia investigation to sabotage the president.
[...]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/u...-hearings.html

[Uncle Ted]

Frank, please tell me that Rod is lying... he must be drinking the same koolaide as Barr, right?

ROD ROSENSTEIN DEFENDS ATTORNEY GENERAL’S HANDLING OF MUELLER REPORT

Outgoing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday defended Attorney General William Barr against allegations that he is misleading Congress and the public about the special counsel’s Russia report.


“He’s being as forthcoming as he can, and so this notion that he’s trying to mislead people, I think is just completely bizarre,” Rosenstein said in a rare interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Democrats have accused Barr of releasing misleading information about special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings from his 22-month investigation, which focused on possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as whether President Trump tried to obstruct the probe.


Barr sent a letter to Congress on March 24 saying that Mueller was unable to establish that collusion occurred. On the obstruction matter, Barr said that Mueller declined to make a decision one way or the other on whether to recommend a case against Trump.
[...]
But Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel on May 17, 2017 and oversaw the probe, said that Barr revealed as much information as he could. He also defended the review process taking place ahead of the release of the report. Barr said on Tuesday that he expects to give a redacted version of Mueller’s report to Congress “within a week.”

https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/11/r...-william-barr/

Wait... Is this the same Rod Rosenstein that wanted to wear a wire with his meeting with Drumpf?

[Uncle Ted]

Hey, so when are the Dems going to release all that evidence they have been claiming to have? We were promised an impeachment, dammit!!

The Trump-Russia collusion hall of shame

The news that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III “did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government” has left a lot of people in Washington with a lot of explaining to do.

Put aside the rogues’ gallery of reporters and pundits who assured us that Donald Trump had conspired with Vladimir Putin to steal the presidency. What is most insidious are those who did have access to classified intelligence and led Americans to believe that they had seen what we could not: actual evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.

Recall that in 2016, Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) released a letter to FBI Director James B. Comey claiming the FBI had proof of Trump-Russia collusion. “In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government,” Reid declared. When asked what information Reid was referring to, a spokesman said, “There have been classified briefings on this topic. That is all I can say.”

Trump has called for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) to resign. He is absolutely correct. Schiff repeatedly said that his committee had dug up “plenty of evidence of collusion or conspiracy.” In March 2017, he said on “Meet the Press,” “I can’t go into the particulars, but there is more than circumstantial evidence now” and last May he told ABC that Trump’s Russia conspiracy is of “a size and scope probably beyond Watergate.”

Schiff is a disgrace. But he is not alone. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the Intelligence Committee, said, “In our investigation, we saw strong evidence of collusion” and declared Trump an agent “working on behalf of the Russians.” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) claimed, “It’s clear that the campaign colluded, and there’s a lot of evidence of that.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, assured us last year that “the evidence is pretty clear that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Intelligence Committee, said, “There is no longer a question of whether this campaign sought to collude with a hostile foreign power to subvert America’s democracy.” And recently, the committee’s vice chairman, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), declared that “enormous amounts of evidence” exist of collusion between Trump and Russia and that “there’s no one that could factually say there’s not plenty of evidence of collaboration or communications between Trump Organization and Russians.” Except for Mueller, of course.

These comments by people with access to intelligence were shameful. But the most sinister of all is John Brennan, who used his authority as former CIA director to suggest that Trump was a traitor and a compromised Russian asset. After Trump’s Helsinki summit, Brennan declared “he is wholly in the pocket of Putin.” When challenged by Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press,” Brennan stood by his assessment. “I called [Trump’s] behavior treasonous, which is to betray one’s trust and aid and abet the enemy, and I stand very much by that claim.”

This month, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell told Brennan this investigation was “developing while you were still on the job” and asked, “Did you see enough at that stage to believe . . . that that would result in indictments?” Brennan replied, “I thought at the time there was going to be individuals who were going to have issues with the Department of Justice. Yes.” In a New York Times op-ed, he wrote that “Trump’s claims of no collusion are, in a word, hogwash.” Now, Brennan feigns contrition. “I don’t know if I received bad information, but I think I suspected there was more than there actually was,” he said, adding, “I am relieved that it’s been determined there was not a criminal conspiracy with the Russian government over our election.”

Hogwash. He wanted it to be true, and he relied on his CIA credentials to convince Americans that it was. That is a violation of the public trust. Trump was right to revoke Brennan’s security clearance. He is among the worst of the worst, the Trump-Russia collusion hall of shame. We have long since passed the point where Americans expect objectivity from the press. But we should hold our elected and appointed officials handling sensitive national security issues to a higher standard.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/northameri...ame/ar-BBVn0f7

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[tooblue]

MUELLER MAKES IT CLEAR: TRUMP WAS WORSE THAN A 'USEFUL IDIOT'

https://www.wired.com/story/mueller-...-useful-idiot/

If Trump had nothing to hide, he spent two years making us think he did. But maybe the answer to that puzzle—left pregnant but unanswered by Mueller, who himself wonders at various points in the report about the sheer volume of seemingly unnecessary lies—is actually quite straightforward. After selling himself to American voters as the great negotiator and dealmaker, maybe Donald Trump was simply too embarrassed by the truth: He’d been taken advantage of, deeply and systemically, by everyone around him, including by Russia and Vladimir Putin and by his own staff. During the campaign, they grifted him without his knowledge. In the White House, they simply ignored him.

[frank ryan]

MUELLER MAKES IT CLEAR: TRUMP WAS WORSE THAN A 'USEFUL IDIOT'

https://www.wired.com/story/mueller-...-useful-idiot/

His continued unwillingness to hold Russia accountable is disgusting and puts our institutions at risk. His foreign policy decisions, absent Venezuela have been wins for Russia.

[Uncle Ted]

What a bunch of wimps...

Pelosi, Hoyer Say Impeachment Is Off The Table, Leaving Democrats Crushed

The top two Democrats in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), have called a time out on impeaching President Donald Trump, crushing the dreams of thousands of progressive activists and many of their House colleagues.

Pelosi announced the decision to forgo instituting impeachment proceedings on a call with House leaders Tuesday morning telling 170 Democratic Members of Congress on an insane, 90-minute conference call, that the House will instead focus on investigating the President and let the American people decide what to believe in November of 2020.
[...]

https://www.dailywire.com/news/46317...-emily-zanotti

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We were promised some impeachment around here!

[Walter Sobchak]

His continued unwillingness to hold Russia accountable is disgusting and puts our institutions at risk. His foreign policy decisions, absent Venezuela all the data that contradicts your narrative have been wins for Russia.

FIFY

[creekster]

His continued unwillingness to hold Russia accountable is disgusting and puts our institutions at risk. His foreign policy decisions, absent Venezuela have been wins for Russia.

Frank, what should he do to "hold Russia accountable?" What would you do? This is a real question. Imagine you wake up tomorrow and find yourself president with an abiding awareness of Russia's perfidy. What do you do?

[Commando]

Maybe not skate along with Russia's designs on thwarting a Hilary Clinton presidency, because you are a grown up and know that it's wrong even though it stands to benefit you personally? Perhaps not act scared of Putin when he's standing right by him and rush to his defense? Just a couple simple things, really, but I'm sure I could come up with more if I was to offer a prepared response...

[creekster]

Maybe not skate along with Russia's designs on thwarting a Hilary Clinton presidency, because you are a grown up and know that it's wrong even though it stands to benefit you personally? Perhaps not act scared of Putin when he's standing right by him and rush to his defense? Just a couple simple things, really, but I'm sure I could come up with more if I was to offer a prepared response...

Admirable complaints but neither would do a thing to "hold Russia accountable." I tend to think Russia is a bit out of control too, but what, exactly, should the US be doing? Frank's statements imply there are some very obvious policy moves that have not been taken. If so, and I am asking in earnest, what are those policy steps?

And, honestly, do you think that Putin was intimidated by Obama's patrician bearing? I doubt it.

[wapiti]

Maybe not skate along with Russia's designs on thwarting a Hilary Clinton presidency, because you are a grown up and know that it's wrong even though it stands to benefit you personally? Perhaps not act scared of Putin when he's standing right by him and rush to his defense? Just a couple simple things, really, but I'm sure I could come up with more if I was to offer a prepared response...

Post-Mueller, you really believe Russia had any effect on the outcome of the election?

[BlueK]

Post-Mueller, you really believe Russia had any effect on the outcome of the election?

Mueller never said Russia's extensive efforts had no effect. Just go read it. He explains what they found they did. The election turned on a 70k total vote difference among the states of PA, WI, and MI, which is half a percent difference among the 13 million+ votes cast there. It wouldn't have taken much.

But whatever the effect may have been, I think we should still have a concern about another country hostile to the US screwing around in our political process. It should be more troubling if one of the candidates didn't care and actually even welcomed it -- even if it can't be proven he actively participated with them. If you read it, that's what the Mueller report says happened, regardless how Trump and Barr have tried to mischaracterize it.