The Trump Investigation(s) Thread

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:00 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 2:55 pmDeep Throat.

So we're back to the Stormy Daniels thing again?

Hiccup · Post by **Hiccup** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:33 pm

em2nought wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:00 pm
Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 2:55 pmDeep Throat.
So we're back to the Stormy Daniels thing again?

I don't think Trump goes deeper than the molars.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 4:55 pm

CNBC

The FBI on Friday released nearly 750 pages of documents from the bureau’s file on the late controversial, hyper-aggressive lawyer Roy Cohn, whose high-profile clients included President Donald Trump when Trump was a fledgling real-estate mogul in New York City.
...
Cohn was famous — and infamous — for his work for Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in the 1950s investigating suspected infilitration by communists in U.S. government agencies, as well as his role prosecuting Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed for stealing American atomic secrets.

In the Rosenberg case, Cohn later admitted to conversations with the trial judge outside of the presence of the Rosenberg lawyers — a serious ethical breach by both Cohn and the judge.
...
The FBI files released Friday include details of an investigation into Cohn for perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection with a grand jury probe of an alleged $50,000 bribe Cohn paid the then-chief assistant U.S. Attorney in Manhattan to keep several stock swindlers from being indicted in 1959.

Cohn was found not guilty after a trial in that case in 1964.
...
Cohn’s clients after his acquittal included Trump, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and Carmine Galante and “Fat Tony” Salerno, suspected Mafia chieftains. He also numbered among his celebrity friends President Ronald Reagan’s wife, Nancy.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 5:37 pm

The assertion that because this is second hand information that it is inaccurate in some way shows an ignorance of what happens and how the process works. The whistle blower originally took his information to a top lawyer in the CIA. That lawyer than interviewed some of the people involved and they corroborated what they whistle blower said he heard from them. Because that lawyer than went to the Justice Department and the White House, the whistle blower decided he/she was being blow off, and then filed an official complaint with the IG. The IG also does an preliminary investigation to make sure the complaint is "credible and urgent". I have no doubt that he also interviewed people named by the whistle blower to corroborate his/her story.

This is an invalid argument. The complaint would have not gotten anywhere without initial confirmation by the IG.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 5:46 pm

CNN

The chairmen of three House committees subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Friday over his failure to produce documents related to Ukraine.

"Pursuant to the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry, we are hereby transmitting a subpoena that compels you to produce the documents set forth in the accompanying schedule by October 4, 2019," the chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees wrote in a letter to Pompeo.

In addition to the subpoena, Reps. Adam Schiff, Eliot Engel and Elijah Cummings informed the top US diplomat in a separate letter that they had scheduled depositions for five State Department officials who have been mentioned in relation to the inquiry -- Ambassador Marie "Masha" Yovanovitch, Ambassador Kurt Volker, Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent, Counselor T. Ulrich Brechbuhl and Ambassador Gordon Sondland.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 8:28 pm

White House restricted access to Trump's calls with Putin and Saudi crown prince

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:03 pm

Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned about Moscow’s interference in U.S. election

Washington Post wrote:President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.

A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to all but a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:11 pm

I don't know, but to me this feels different than the Russia stuff. There's so much actual direct evidence that they can pick up. I just love that all these super patriotic people can rally behind a dude dry humping Russia.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Sat Sep 28, 2019 12:21 am

Octavious wrote:I don't know, but to me this feels different than the Russia stuff. There's so much actual direct evidence that they can pick up. I just love that all these super patriotic people can rally behind a dude dry humping Russia.

https://waitbutwhy.com/2019/09/thinking-ladder.html

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sat Sep 28, 2019 8:59 am

malchior wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:03 pm Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned about Moscow’s interference in U.S. election

Washington Post wrote:President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.

A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to all but a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

He has been enabled at every turn by aides and appointees willing to help him cover it all up. Imagine being one of the handful of people in the world actually in a position to expose a corrupt president and deciding that your duty is keep secrets.

I suppose a few of them have eased their conscience a little by occasionally leaking to the press about the chaos in the WH, but that doesn't absolve them. Not one bit.

These people should be judged as harshly as Trump.

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:05 am

A President like Trump wouldn’t exist if their wasn’t party leadership like the Republican Party. To me they are all traitors to our democracy in their drive to make our political and then Justice system their play thing.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:18 pm

So I guess knowing that they've been compromised internally, the idea is to just travel to Rome and meet face to face so there's no recording? Knowing what just happened this week, an unscheduled, unannounced trip by the AG to Rome seems...odd.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:37 pm

Are we sure that's not just random internet BS? I wouldn't trust Seth Abramson with much, personally, other than promoting Seth Abramson.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:42 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:37 pm Are we sure that's not just random internet BS? I wouldn't trust Seth Abramson with much, personally, other than promoting Seth Abramson.

Fair. How about this:

First on @ABC: AG Barr has been on official travel in Italy for the past two days, during a week where he has faced intensifying scrutiny over his role in how the DOJ handled the IC's whistleblower complaint. It's unclear why the trip was only just revealed. w/ @jonkarl

Abramsom is really noting that Barr and Rybolovlev are in the same area, which seems like a huge coincidence.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Sat Sep 28, 2019 10:00 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:42 pm
pr0ner wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:37 pm Are we sure that's not just random internet BS? I wouldn't trust Seth Abramson with much, personally, other than promoting Seth Abramson.
Fair. How about this:

First on @ABC: AG Barr has been on official travel in Italy for the past two days, during a week where he has faced intensifying scrutiny over his role in how the DOJ handled the IC's whistleblower complaint. It's unclear why the trip was only just revealed. w/ @jonkarl
Abramsom is really noting that Barr and Rybolovlev are in the same area, which seems like a huge coincidence.

Most of this is all "open source" tracking of planes. Were these people on the plane? Did they rent it to someone else? Are they in the same city even? Who knows? It is interesting because Rybolovlev was the guy who bought Trump's mansion at a huge mark up and whose plane has in the past been co-located with Trump's plane on several occasions. Maybe coincidences but interesting nonetheless.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:51 pm

Awesome. This is what I like seeing - keep that pressure on.

The president is a corrupt human tornado.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:56 pm

I honestly believe Trump's downfall will come at the hands of those he betrays. He has a long and storied history of throwing people under the bus to save his own skin. I suspect Barr, Pompeo and Giuliani (to name a few) may turn on him when he inevitably shows signs that he's about to sacrifice them too.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 4:05 pm

Unbeknownst to Biden, the best thing he did was send his kid to the Ukraine.

msteelers · Post by **msteelers** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 4:36 pm

Cool. Now there's a pattern. Not just with Trump being involved, but with Barr being integral to it.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:11 pm

President Trump may have lied to Mueller, House Democrats say

Lawyers for the House of Representatives revealed on Monday that they have reason to believe that the grand-jury redactions in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report show that President Donald Trump lied about his knowledge of his campaign’s contacts with WikiLeaks.

“Not only could those materials demonstrate the president’s motives for obstructing the Special Counsel’s investigation, they also could reveal that Trump was aware of his campaign’s contacts with WikiLeaks,” the lawyers wrote in the filing, which was in response to the Justice Department’s opposition to the disclosure of the grand-jury information.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:13 pm

Oh the chickens are coming home to roost now, boys. Michael Cohen told us this was coming. You should've listened, cronies!

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:30 pm

I cant help but feel now that the Clinton email investigation reintensifying over the last few weeks looks pretty ominous considering Pompeo is directly implicated in the Zelensky phone call.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:38 pm

I can't help but be more concerned that multiple times, President Trump was apparently able to surround himself with people that have no problem violating an oath of office. I mean, it's one thing to have a random degenerate in public service, but I guess it's true what they say - it all starts from the top. And when the man at the top position is an amoral sociopath, maybe that's who ends up surviving in his presence.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:44 pm

Apparently Hannity's show is full of crazy - another rambling Rudy interview, where he alludes to having "video tapes and tape recordings", and Lindsay Graham saying he's going to write letters to Australia, Italy, and and the UK suggesting they should cooperate with Barr.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:59 pm

From what I understand, the IC IG isn't required to say shit. To come out and basically tell Trump to STFU is...dayum.

NEW AND IMPORTANT. The IC IG releases lengthy statement in apparent response to some news reports (and all-caps tweets) about rules for filing whistleblower disclosures.

Long story short, the whistleblower did everything right.

Excerpts to follow

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:30 pm

Ahh..that takes me back to 2017:

“Now we go nuclear,” he wrote on Twitter. “[Intelligence community] war going to new levels. Just got an [email from] senior [intelligence community] friend, it began: ‘He will die in jail.'”

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:35 pm

Our resources going to ensure that we are kept in the dark about the President's finances...cool.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:45 pm

malchior wrote:Our resources going to ensure that we are kept in the dark about the President's finances...cool.

As I saw someone say on the Twitter: Democracy dies in darkness--so they turned out the lights.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:13 pm

Smoove_B wrote:President Trump was apparently able to surround himself with people that have no problem violating an oath of office.

What's particularly frightening to me is that some of these (like Barr) are people with long political careers and/or who were fairly well respected. How someone with that level of service could hitch their wagon to a clown like Trump is beyond me. I guess money does some strange things to people.

Hope the shitty years (and in most cases, months) you got under the Trump presidency were worth throwing your entire career away for.

Jolor · Post by **Jolor** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:27 pm

Double bounce

Jolor · Post by **Jolor** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:27 pm

YellowKing wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:13 pm
Smoove_B wrote:President Trump was apparently able to surround himself with people that have no problem violating an oath of office.
What's particularly frightening to me is that some of these (like Barr) are people with long political careers and/or who were fairly well respected. How someone with that level of service could hitch their wagon to a clown like Trump is beyond me. I guess money does some strange things to people.

Hope the shitty years (and in most cases, months) you got under the Trump presidency were worth throwing your entire career away for.

Perhaps they weren't as clean as assumed.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:31 pm

Wasn’t Barr part of pardoning people in Iran Contra? He has never been clean.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:51 pm

It's funny, but there is a chance that Trump will actually keep one of his campaign promises: Directly due to his actions, the swamp may actually get drained.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 7:06 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:51 pm It's funny, but there is a chance that Trump will actually keep one of his campaign promises: Directly due to his actions, the swamp may actually get drained.

Blown up is a more apt term. The swamp dwellers let in a guy with a 55 gallon drum of moonshine, but they weren't expecting him to simply drench everything with it and run around with a torch afterwards, screaming "I AM THE CHOSEN ONE! I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!"

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 8:57 am

The swamp will just get back to previous levels.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 9:04 am

Which at this point will make America seem like a bastion of honesty and integrity.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 9:27 am

hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 9:04 am Which at this point will make America seem like a bastion of honesty and integrity.

Make America Seem Great Again!

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 10:34 am

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:31 pm Wasn’t Barr part of pardoning people in Iran Contra? He has never been clean.

Yeah. The Iran-Contra coverup was the first thing people remembered about Barr when he was nominated. Well, that, and the fact that he wrote an op-ed saying "Make me AG and I'll stop Mueller."

He probably could have enjoyed a comfortable and even respectable (because Reagan was a lifetime ago) retirement, but now he'll go down in front-page infamy.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 11:08 am

Oh nothing. Just Mike Pompeo and Sebastian Gorka traveling together to the Vatican.

NBC News reported that Gorka, a former deputy assistant to the president, was traveling as a member of the press. Gorka was formerly a Fox News contributor and is currently a contributor for Sinclair TV and has been named the host of a talk show with the Salem Radio Network Platform.

...

Pompeo is scheduled to travel to Italy, the Vatican, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Greece between Tuesday and Sunday according to the State Department.

The Hill has reached out to the department for comment on Gorka's presence on the trip.

Fox News confirmed that Gorka is not a contributor for the network and was not traveling on assignment for Fox.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 11:54 am

Perhaps the Vatican will conduct an exorcism and take their confessions.