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The fuck it isn't. Trump equivocated his ass off. Do you remember when he claimed he didn't know who David Duke was. No sentient adult of Trump's age doesn't know who he was and what he is.
Duke is on the record as supporting Trump. Why TF would he do so?
As always, Trump's initial response was his authentic response. The clean up from his staff doesn't count for shit and it is unpersuasive to all but Trump cult members.
You're trying to apply lipstick to a pig and doing a very bad job of it.
Trump’s new defense of his Charlottesville comments is incredibly false
The 2017 “Unite the Right” rally was organized by and intended for white supremacists and white nationalists.
By Jane Coastonjane.coaston@vox.com Apr 26, 2019, 2:30pm EDT
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/26/18517980/trump-unite-the-right-racism-defense-charlottesville
President Donald Trump is still defending his infamous remarks in the wake of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, when he said, “You also had some very fine people on both sides.”
The latest attempt came Friday: “I was talking about people that went because they felt very strongly about the monument to Robert E. Lee,” Trump told reporters. “People there were protesting the taking down of the monument to Robert E. Lee. Everybody knows that.”
Trump isn’t alone in attempting to recast his “both sides” Charlottesville remarks; his supporters are, too. Within the past few months, Dilbert creator Scott Adams, Morton Klein, head of Zionists of America, and writers for Breitbart and the Federalist have done the same, as the Daily Beast’s Will Sommer reported a few weeks ago.
These writers argue that Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” comments were meant to refer to the protesters in attendance who were attempting to stop the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a public square in Charlottesville, not the neo-Nazis and white nationalists who made up the bulk of the event’s attendees.
As RealClearPolitics’ Steve Cortes argued, “Despite the clear evidence of Trump’s statements regarding Charlottesville, major media figures insist on spreading the calumny that Trump called neo-Nazis ‘fine people.’”
But here’s the thing: He did.
None of this was very subtle.
In Discord chats and discussions revealed by legal proceedings that have taken place since Unite the Right, attendees and organizers stated again and again what the point of the event was: “If you want to defend the South and Western civilization from the Jew and his dark-skinned allies, be at Charlottesville on 12 August.”
How Trump responded
On August 15, 2017, Trump made his third statement on the events of Charlottesville. (On August 12, Trump said, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” National Review called his remarks “vague and equivocal,” while Anglin hailed them.)
Those wishing to defend Trump on this issue have focused on this part of his remarks:
Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.
His supporters have taken that as the totality of his comments on Charlottesville. As Morton Klein said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this month, “In that statement, he condemned neo-Nazis and white nationalists. He did not mean that they are fine people.”
But Trump said a lot more, which his defenders seem strangely unwilling to reckon with. Here is how Trump described what took place at Unite the Right:
TRUMP: I am not putting anybody on a moral plane, what I’m saying is this: you had a group on one side and a group on the other, and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch, but there is another side. There was a group on this side, you can call them the left. You’ve just called them the left, that came violently attacking the other group. So you can say what you want, but that’s the way it is.
REPORTER: You said there was hatred and violence on both sides?
TRUMP: I do think there is blame – yes, I think there is blame on both sides. You look at, you look at both sides. I think there’s blame on both sides, and I have no doubt about it, and you don’t have any doubt about it either. And, and, and, and if you reported it accurately, you would say.
REPORTER: The neo-Nazis started this thing. They showed up in Charlottesville.
TRUMP: Excuse me, they didn’t put themselves down as neo-Nazis, and you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. You had people in that group – excuse me, excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down, of to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name.
As should be clear by now, there were no “very fine people” who were part of the organizing or promotion of Unite the Right. Unite the Right was an event planned not by traditional conservatives, but by groups and individuals that despise traditional conservatives, like Peinovich, who helped coin the term “cuckservative” to refer to traditional conservatives who spoke out against racism and anti-Semitism.
And during that same press conference, Trump added this:
No, no. There were people in that rally, and I looked the night before. If you look, they were people protesting very quietly, the taking down the statue of Robert E. Lee. I’m sure in that group there were some bad ones. The following day, it looked like they had some rough, bad people, neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call ’em.
But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest, because you know, I don’t know if you know, but they had a permit. The other group didn’t have a permit. So I only tell you this: there are two sides to a story.
I thought what took place was a horrible moment for our country, a horrible moment. But there are two sides to the country. Does anybody have a final – does anybody have a final question? You have an infrastructure question.
“The night before” is referring to the Friday night torchlit rally of August 11, where more than 200 attendees held tiki torches on the campus of the University of Virginia and chanted “Jews will not replace us” and “Blood and soil.” Whatever this event may have been, it was certainly not “people protesting very quietly.”
NO, it is a reasonable inference that 'many fine people on both sides' encompasses the white supremacists who CLEARLY made up the most visible portion of one side.
See Tiki Torch marchers and their chant of the 'Jews will not replace us'.
See a chiropractor and untwist yourself from that amazing contortion displayed in your post.
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Invites Stephen Colbert To Visit Her Country
Pointedly, 2 days before the most recent revelations and 3 days before tomorrow's. Really think the next polls won't show movement toward more support for impeachment?
What Powers Does a Formal Impeachment Inquiry Give the House?
By Molly E. Reynolds, Margaret Taylor
Tuesday, May 21, 2019, 1:57 PM
https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-powers-does-formal-impeachment-inquiry-give-house
Several experts have argued that the House might have a stronger legal position in disputes with the executive branch over information and witness appearances if it were undertaking impeachment proceedings rather than investigations.
Michael Conway, who served as counsel on the House judiciary committee during the Watergate investigation, has advanced a similar argument. In particular, he points to a staff memo written in April 1974, which argues that “the Supreme Court has contrasted the broad scope of the inquiry power of the House in impeachment proceedings with its more confined scope in legislative investigations.
From the beginning of the Federal Government, presidents have stated that in an impeachment inquiry the Executive Branch could be required to produce papers that it might with-hold in a legislative investigation.”
Let's. Where are Trump's tax returns? Why wouldn't he sit to be interviewed by Mueller? Where are the notes from his meetings with Putin? Why doesn't his press secretary hold press conferences?
Trump is a transparent liar, that's all that's transparent about him.
Talk about transparency
Uh yeah, the WAPO and the NYT over the whispers.
I'm able to distinguish between journalism that errs and willful misstatements of fact.
So the DNI is denying the story? What would you expect from a guy who is deep shit for violating the law?
Your words? I say infrequently if at all.
Frequently, Left Bias or Liberal News outlets like the Washington Post or NYT do not print stories that do not support the narrative they wish to create.
And somehow all of that has escaped the attention of actual reporters. No wonder they whisper.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/dc-whispers/
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Notes: DC Whispers is a news and opinion website with a right wing bias in reporting. Headlines are somewhat sensationalized, but not extreme in comparison to many we have reviewed. Articles tend to be sourced fairly well, but sometimes to questionable information. For example, in this article they source a preacher, who claims he heard from a congressman that Donald Trump would be “taken out suddenly.”
The Preacher implies this would be through assassination, which simply is not verifiable. Based on using questionable sources we rate DC Whispers questionable for factual reporting and strongly right biased in reporting. This is a borderline questionable source. (D. Van Zandt 7/21/2017)
Let's Do This Impeachment Thing
From yesterday, so take that into account.
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/
9/24/2019
Probably the transcript will show that Trump never said, "Hey, Voldemort, dick over Biden or no bomb money for you."
Let's get straight what the straw that broke Nancy Pelosi's back on impeachment was. It wasn't the phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky where he said he wanted that country to go after Joe Biden and his son (or at least make it look like they were going after them). It wasn't the implication of the president of the United States using our country's relationship with a foreign country to go after a political opponent, to, really, collude with that country.
While surely that call and Trump's admitted actions played a role in Pelosi finally giving in to her increasingly restive and vocal caucus, it was really more cut-and-dried: the law says that if a whistleblower gives information to the inspector general of the intelligence community that the IG deems "urgent" and legitimate, it must be given to the proper congressional committees.
It's that fucking simple. And even though Pelosi has let some things slide (like Trump refusing to turn over his taxes to the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, as required by law), this one could not only be couched in terms of "national security" since it involves, you know, intelligence. But the motherfucking IG who found it urgent is a Trump appointee.
You know how this is gonna play out over the next few days: Trump has already said he's going to release the "transcript" of his July 25 call with Zelensky. And let's be clear: it ain't gonna be a transcript, unless they record the calls in the Oval Office, which would be peak Trump stupidity, and even then there's no way to trust it.
Probably the transcript will show that Trump never said, "Hey, Voldemort, dick over Biden or no bomb money for you."
[But, as Jeffrey Toobin and others have said today, if Trump even mentions Biden's name, it's abuse of power. I'm betting that, if you're really concerned about corruption in Ukraine, there are lots of people not named Biden involved. (Besides, Hunter Biden was already completely cleared of any involvement in anything. He was never even formally accused of anything.)
This fuckin' dance will go something like the Mueller Report. Because it's not absolutely obvious to the dumbest dumbass what's going on in the phone call, most Republicans and Fox "news" and Twitter fucknuts will proclaim it a "witch hunt" and try to discredit the whole impeachment effort.
But we don't even know if that's all that the whistleblower was talking about. As I write this, the New York Times is reporting that the White House is figuring out how much to allow the whistleblower to speak to Congress, which, again, is not what the law says.
It's a distraction strategy so that that array of leperous whores who run interference for Trump can say to his idiot hordes of voters, "See? Look how transparent your orange god is."
While I'm still leaning agnostic on the whole "this is finally what brings this motherfucker down" early celebration because we've been burned so many times before, I gotta say that there is something different going on here.
First off, today, Mitch McConnell, that infected sore on the scrotum of politics, went along with a nonbinding resolution calling for the whistleblower's complaint to be given to the intelligence committees, and it passed with unanimous consent.
Say what you will about it, but it gives Democrats some pretty potent ammunition to say that Trump, Barr, and the Acting Director of National Intelligence are being fucking criminals by holding it back.
If I were an optimistic person, I'd say that we might see some Republicans start to peel off as people wake up and see that, at last, in a game of chicken with the White House, Democrats in the House did not swerve at the last minute.
It's a whole lot more fun to root for a fighter, and if polls start to show growing support for impeachment, I'd say some GOP House members, at the very least, are gonna start to get a little nervous about keeping their lips superglued to Trump's voluminous ass.
And I've seen a few conservatives in the media agreeing that Trump admitted to impeachable offenses when he bragged that he talked about the Bidens with Zelensky. Maybe we'll get more who give a shit about the rule of law, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
The one thing I would say to any Republicans who might be reading: "Fuck you." And then the next thing I'd say is "You knew it was gonna come to this. You knew Trump was just that vile and depraved and greedy and dumb and narcissistic. How else was this gonna go?" Perhaps I'd add: "Did you see him at the United Nations today? Sweet Jesus, I thought he was gonna collapse into himself like a deflating yoga ball. He ain't right. You wanna stand by that?"
We are at the beginning now. I don't think this will be like the oddly fast Clinton impeachment, which took a little over two months (with the trial and acquittal in the Senate over two months after that). That came in the wake of the Starr Report, so it was a response to a full, ludicrous, shameful sham of an investigation. We're starting from scratch here. Let's have some hearings on the TV, please. Drag Trump's ass for as long as it's necessary.
What Nancy Pelosi finally did was to stop allowing Democrats to be so goddamned feckless and seemingly random in their attempts to investigate Trump and his administration. An effective Democratic caucus would have already gone after Trump for profiting off his position or for what was revealed in the Mueller Report, which essentially said, "You gotta impeach this crooked cock."
Now Democrats can have a crystal clear, simple message that can tie together the threads of all the various committees' work: Trump is a criminal, and here are all the ways he has violated the law, his oath of office, and the public trust. Now let's impeach the motherfucker.
Gird yer loins, oh, good Trump-haters of America, for things are gonna get intense and weird and possibly (even more) violent, if his yahoo-brigade starts to think their racist president is going down.
We've finally, really joined the battle. It's about goddamn time.
(One last note: Rudy Giuliani is fucked. He better cut some deals fast because Trump is selling him out in a heartbeat.)
No, she's just a more rigorous thinker than you. And not dumb enough to fall for the same conspiracy theories that you fall so easily for.
Nah, you could sign up for the same course with me, we could hang out in a bar for the entire term, read the board from our phones, show up for the final, and ace it.
Horseshit, it was an assertion that something happened that you had no evidence to support as having happened. it wasn't even a reasonable inference because of, you know, the stupidity.
And you flatter yourself by claiming that what you pull out of your ass rises to the level of an opinion.
Anyway, what about this?
"And of course if it were Clinton or Obama doing the same thing your view of the conversation would completely flip to impeach, lock him/her up, electrocute. And you would be right to hold that view."
That you are unable to subject your posts to the simple exercise of looking at them from 2 sides, before posting, guarantees that they reek of double standards and hypocrisy.
Reading the righty posts here IS my deep dive.
I could blow off the course......understanding the narcissistic sociopath, psychopath, and other anti-social personalities.....and still ace the test.
Your cherry orchard must be thinning out from all of the picking you do.
One voice is not a bell weather.
These on the other hand....
Nearly half of Texas voters say they won't vote for Trump. Will ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com › politics › 2019/09/11 › nearly-half-texas-...
Sep 11, 2019 - Nearly half of Texas voters say they won't vote for Trump. ... the near-universal mediocrity of Trump's approval numbers will translate at the polls. ... Republicans were mostly supportive of voting for Trump again, though only ...
Poll: 30% Of Conservatives, 15% Of GOP Say They Won't Vote ...
https://www.huffpost.com › entry › donald-trump-poll-republicans-conser...
Apr 29, 2019 - Republican critics of the president say the numbers spell big trouble for his reelection bid. ... Poll: More Than Half Plan to Vote Against Trum.
Trump's Ukraine Call 'Transcript' Proves This Is 'Stupid Watergate'
The Trumpists release a non-transcript that is nonetheless incriminating—for the president, for his attorney general, and for Rudy Giuliani.
BY CHARLES P. PIERCE
Sep 25, 2019
Jesus H. Christ on work-release, this is what they thought they could put out there? What's next? Digging up John Stennis and having him "review" the actual transcript?
(Just so we're on the same greasy page, something that is "not a verbatim transcript" is not a transcript. Thank you.)
I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike... I guess you have one of your wealthy people... The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation...I think you1 re surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it.
As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it's very important that you do it if that's possible. The other thing, there's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it... It sounds horrible to me.
John Oliver coined the term "Stupid Watergate," and it was a fine and funny trope until Wednesday morning. This is Stupid Watergate in excelsis.
Watergate, meet Stupid Watergate.
On April 29, 1974, President Richard Nixon released edited transcripts of many of the conversations that his covert recording system had captured. Much of what was redacted was Nixon's tawdry use of obscenity.
What followed was a national outbreak of political projectile vomiting. Copies of the transcripts in book form shot to the top of best-sellers lists. The phrase "Expletive Deleted" became an immortal punchline.
And, because we're going to be hearing a lot of "no quid pro quo" from the Trump peanut gallery in the next few months, it's important to remember that the famous "Smoking Gun" tape was not included in the transcripts that Nixon released, and that what he did release made people more ready to believe him capable of anything.
I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I'm sure you will figure it out. I heard the prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair prosecutor so good luck with everything.
And under the bus goes Rudy Giuliani and the Attorney General of the United States. They are shocked to find the president* already had climbed under there himself.
Jesus, these really are the mole people.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a29227848/trump-ukraine-call-transcript-release-stupid-watergate/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_esq&utm_medium=email&date=092519&utm_campaign=nl18142674&src=nl
You have a link to support the claim that the GOPERS knew what was in the report? That's your lame speculation because you need to make the GOPERS seem smart. It's not working.
And of course if it were Clinton or Obama doing the same thing your view of the conversation would completely flip to impeach, lock him/her up, electrocute. And you would be right to hold that view.
Come back and post here when the House votes on the articles of impeachment, then sit back and watch the Senate GOPERS create campaign footage for Dems for a generation by attempting to defend an indefensible, lying, treasonous, fucking moron.
Yeah, you moral imbecile, because 'arms for dirt on your political opponent' is SOP for Putin's ball-washer.
Is Trump About to Face an Unfamiliar Scenario, Finally?
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212497708
I am going to make some assumptions. They are that, for most of his life, Trump has been "the boss" and was able to use his money and power to manipulate and control his deals and situations. He could pay off, bribe, sue, threaten, intimidate and fire his way out of things. He could walk away and/or declare bankruptcy.
If fact, I think that kind of a streak gave him all that braggadocio and false confidence and that it contributed to his sense of impunity in office. However, now it is reaching a climax where he may be discovering his Achilles heel and find out that bone spurs was not his real problem.
I think the call to Pelosi about a deal was a sign of a crack in his narcissistic, delusional wall. Is this a point where it just might dawn on him just how serious the ramifications of his actions are and that there can and will be legal consequences that none of his previous tactics can remedy or prevent?
If that is the case, then perhaps we will see a real turnabout and some unexpected changes. Oh, I don't mean he will have a change of heart or reform his behavior. No, I mean this is going to influence his decisions and reveal the cowardice and vulnerability that is behind his facade, and yes, that means he many do something we would not have expected, otherwise. Although, public relations games could be played, it seems too late for that to matter.
For me, that puts resignation on the table as one unexpected outcome, whereas some say he will fight to the end. Keep in mind that his brand is also at stake here and that means the family is also impacted by the outcome.
What do you think? Is the reality of law and consequences going to dawn on him enough to pierce the bubble of immunity he dwells in?
10. I expect the Republican Senate all voting to release the Whistleblower report spooked him.
So yes, trying to make a deal is the first crack in his armor.
I'll bet that his armor is actually paper thin so if the impeachment attack actually gets through to Republicans he'll deflate like a week old balloon.
If he were put solidly on the defense I'll bet he'll devolve into a pleading coward.
It would appear so to the fact-challenged, self-delusional and critical thinking impaired. So no surprise there.
Au contraire, you are ignoring actual evidence of Trump's criminal behavior and his governing while stupid....
NY Times: Donald Trump Vs. The United States of America ... A list of offenses
Last edited Wed Sep 25, 2019, 10:05 AM - Edit history (1)
Sometimes it’s worth stepping back to look at the full picture.
He has pressured a foreign leader to interfere in the 2020 American presidential election.
He urged a foreign country to intervene in the 2016 presidential election.
He divulged classified information to foreign officials.
He publicly undermined American intelligence agents while standing next to a hostile foreign autocrat.
He hired a national security adviser who he knew had secretly worked as a foreign lobbyist.
He encourages foreign leaders to enrich him and his family by staying at his hotels.
He genuflects to murderous dictators.
He has alienated America’s closest allies.
He lied to the American people about his company’s business dealings in Russia.
He tells new lies virtually every week — about the economy, voter fraud, even the weather.
He spends hours on end watching television and days on end staying at resorts.
He often declines to read briefing books or perform other basic functions of a president’s job.
He has aides, as well as members of his own party in Congress, who mock him behind his back as unfit for office.
He has repeatedly denigrated a deceased United States senator who was a war hero.
He insulted a Gold Star family — the survivors of American troops killed in action.
He described a former first lady, not long after she died, as “nasty.”
He described white supremacists as “some very fine people.”
He told four women of color, all citizens and members of Congress, to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.”
He made a joke about Pocahontas during a ceremony honoring Native American World War II veterans.
He launched his political career by falsely claiming that the first black president was not really American.
He launched his presidential campaign by describing Mexicans as “rapists.”
He has described women, variously, as “a dog,” “a pig” and “horseface,” as well as “bleeding badly from a facelift” and having “blood coming out of her wherever.”
He has been accused of sexual assault or misconduct by multiple women.
He enthusiastically campaigned for a Senate candidate who was accused of molesting multiple teenage girls.
He waved around his arms, while giving a speech, to ridicule a physically disabled person.
He has encouraged his supporters to commit violence against his political opponents.
He has called for his opponents and critics to be investigated and jailed.
He uses a phrase popular with dictators — “the enemy of the people” — to describe journalists.
He attempts to undermine any independent source of information that he does not like, including judges, scientists, journalists, election officials, the F.B.I., the C.I.A., the Congressional Budget Office and the National Weather Service.
He has tried to harass the chairman of the Federal Reserve into lowering interest rates.
He said that a judge could not be objective because of his Mexican heritage.
He obstructed justice by trying to influence an investigation into his presidential campaign.
He violated federal law by directing his lawyer to pay $280,000 in hush money to cover up two apparent extramarital affairs.
He made his fortune partly through wide-scale financial fraud.
He falsely accused his predecessor of wiretapping him.
He claimed that federal law-enforcement agents and prosecutors regularly fabricated evidence, thereby damaging the credibility of criminal investigations across the country.
He has ordered children to be physically separated from their parents.
He has suggested that America is no different from or better than Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
He has called America a “hellhole.”
He is the president of the United States, and he is a threat to virtually everything that the United States should stand for.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/opinion/trump-ukraine-whistle-blower.html
The science illiterate climate change deniers are the heirs of the priests who invited Galileo to view the instruments of torture.
More properly labeled...'religion and superstition, still on the job in the GOP.'
New Guinea campaign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea_campaign
"Thenceforth, the Battle of Milne Bay became an infantry struggle in the sopping jungle carried on mostly at night under pouring rain. The Aussies were fighting mad, for they had found some of their captured fellows tied to trees and bayoneted to death, surmounted by the placard, 'It took them a long time to die'."
– Samuel Eliot Morison, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, p. 38
Australian soldiers resting in the Finisterre Ranges of New Guinea while en route to the front line
Marines of the 1st Marine Division display Japanese flags captured during the Battle of Cape Gloucester
Of course the position of Trump and GOPERS is that of Brer Rabbit.
Oh, PLEEEEASE don't make me turn over the whistleblower report.
Because 3 dimensional chess, I guess. From the moron who can't close an umbrella. Whatever.
Orwellian level spin.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-federalist/
Analysis / Bias
The Federalist is a news and opinion website that reports with a right wing bias that typically favors the right and denigrates the left. There is frequent use of loaded emotional language such as this: The New York Times’ Hit Piece On Mike Pence Is Anti-Christian Bigotry, Plain And Simple. In general, The Federalist sources all of their information to credible mainstream outlets, however they sometimes use sources that we have rated mixed for factual reporting such as the Daily Caller.
According to an article from the left leaning Daily Beast, The Federalist was openly critical on Donald Trump before he won the election, but has since become a strong supporter of his Presidency and agenda. Further, In November 2017, The Federalist came under criticism from both conservatives and liberals for publishing an opinion piece by Ouachita Baptist University philosopher Tully Borland defending Roy Moore’s dating of teenagers while he was in his 30s and arguing that such behavior was “not without some merit if one wants to raise a large family.”
A factual search reveals that The Federalist has made a Mostly False claim that was not corrected.
Overall, we rate The Federalist Right Biased based on story selection that favors the right and High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a reasonable fact check record. (8/8/2016) Updated (D. Van Zandt 4/11/2019)
Source: http://thefederalist.com/
BREAKING NEWS: Statement Concerning the Intelligence Community Whistleblower
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212496087
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2019
Statement Concerning the Intelligence Community Whistleblower
Our firm has represented our client from the outset, and he/she has diligently followed the
processes and laws that afford the greatest legal protections against reprisal. As legal counsel, it is
our duty to ensure our client is fully protected.
We support the bi-partisan, unanimous resolution passed by the Senate regarding our client’s lawful
whistleblower complaint and call upon the Acting Director of National Intelligence to transmit the
complete disclosure to the two Intelligence Oversight Committees. Additionally, in order to ensure
maximum legal protections for our client, we can confirm press reports that, today, we wrote to the
Acting Director of National Intelligence to request specific guidance as to the appropriate security
practices to permit a meeting, if needed, with the Members of the Intelligence Oversight
Committees. We await a timely response from the Acting Director providing such guidance.
Andrew P. Bakaj, Esq.
Lead Attorney for the Intelligence Community Whistleblower
I. Charles McCullough, III Esq.
Mark S. Zaid, Esq.
Attorneys for the Intelligence Community Whistleblower
- End -
September 24, 2019
VIA E-MAIL
THROUGH THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY INSPECTOR GENERAL
The Honorable Joseph Maguire
Acting Director of National Intelligence
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Washington, DC 20511
RE: Notice of Intent to Contact Congressional Intelligence Committees
Dear Acting Director Maguire:
My firm represents a member of the Intelligence Community who has reported an “urgent
concern” to the Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General (“ICIG”). My client
submitted a disclosure on August 12, 2019, through the established procedures promulgated by law.
Within the statutorily-mandated period, the ICIG concluded that my client’s disclosure was both
“credible” and “urgent”, as the underlying information disclosed meets the standards set forth under
50 U.S.C. § 3033(k)(5)(G).
In accordance with 50 U.S.C. § 3033(k)(5)(D)(ii)(I), I am providing you formal notice of our intent to
contact the congressional intelligence committees directly. Accordingly, I request direction on doing
so in accordance with appropriate security practices per 50 U.S.C. § 3033(k)(5)(D)(ii)(II).
I thank you in advance for your time and attention to this matter, and I look forward to your
forthcoming guidance.
Sincerely,
Andrew P. Bakaj
Lead Attorney for the Intelligence Community Whistleblower
Enclosures: None.
cc: Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Statement and Associated Documents here:
includes:
September 24, 2019, Letter from DNI OGC to Andrew P. Bakaj, Attorney for Intelligence Community Whistleblower
https://compassrosepllc.com/intelligence-community-whistleblower-matter/
Federal Courts take subpoenas resultant from impeachment hearings more seriously. Specifically, they expedite the enforcement of them
That has been the history of such anyway.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-powers-does-formal-impeachment-inquiry-give-house
Several experts have argued that the House might have a stronger legal position in disputes with the executive branch over information and witness appearances if it were undertaking impeachment proceedings rather than investigations. Michael Conway, who served as counsel on the House judiciary committee during the Watergate investigation, has advanced a similar argument.
In particular, he points to a staff memo written in April 1974, which argues that “the Supreme Court has contrasted the broad scope of the inquiry power of the House in impeachment proceedings with its more confined scope in legislative investigations. From the beginning of the Federal Government, presidents have stated that in an impeachment inquiry the Executive Branch could be required to produce papers that it might with-hold in a legislative investigation.” Others are more skeptical—like Alan Baron, a former attorney for the House judiciary committee on four judicial impeachments, who has cautioned that impeachment proceedings don’t “make all the problems go away.”
Certainly—as was suggested during our conversation on the Lawfare podcast last month—we would expect members to ask different kinds of questions during hearings if the goal is to establish a case for impeachment than if they are doing more general investigative work. But that is a separate issue from whether impeachment proceedings would meaningfully change the process members can use to obtain information in committee, the kind of material the committee could obtain and the speed at which the committee would be likely to obtain it. The answer to all these questions is: It depends.
We think it is entirely possible—probable even—that judges would recognize the primacy of impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States and expedite consideration of such cases. The case of U.S. v. Nixon—in which the Supreme Court ruled that the president had to turn over the infamous Oval Office recordings to the special prosecutor—was decided just over three months after the relevant grand jury subpoena had been issued.
That was a criminal investigation, so the analogy is not entirely apt, but we think it reasonable to assume courts would take a similarly expeditious view in the context of a subpoena issued pursuant to impeachment proceedings.
Of course, it is worth remembering that the Supreme Court has never decided a case concerning a congressional subpoena for information issued to an executive branch official where the president has asserted executive privilege. In theory, the Supreme Court could decide the issue is a political question and leave it to the other two branches to sort out in some other way.
Thanks, I needed that clarification.
Really, eleven years? What drama did Obama create? I mean the teabaggers and birthers weren't bullshit of his making.
I stated this many times, It would be Trumps narcissism that destroys him.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212492912
This mistake Trump made was a direct result of his narcissism. He thought he had beaten the Mueller Report. He thought the Mueller report cleared him of conspiracy, It did not.
A person with a normal brain who survived the Mueller report would have said this to themselves, I dodged a bullet, don't make that mistake again. Not Trump, He saw it as green light to do it again. His narcissism will now lead him to believe he can get out of this. He thinks he is smarter and better than everyone. He thinks he is invincible. He will commit more crimes and make more mistakes. He cannot control himself.
Tuesday TOONs - No Squid Go-Pro
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212491680
Excellent point. Please lay that standard along side of the two comprehensive lists of Trump's immoral, unethical AND illegal behavior. Yeah, much of what is in the Mueller report IS prosecutable when applied to a private citizen.
You just don't get it do you? Does something have to be illegal to be immoral or unethical?
This constant "We are better than you" is a crock. In other words, I am not defending Trump. In my opinion, he is no better or no worse than most of the other political hogs that feed at the trough.
Who's Laughing Now?
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212490798
We’ve been hearing from Trump & Co that the whistle-blower’s complaint is such a nothing-burger, those who have seen it have laughed at it.
Of course, the obvious question has been that if it’s so devoid of substance, so easily dismissed as trivial, so downright laughable on its face, why are the Republicans so blatantly flauting the law in order to keep it under wraps?
Surely the GOP knows that we Democrats have a sense of humour – we couldn’t have survived the past three years without it. So why not let us in on the joke?
Needless to say, the lengths to which the GOP have gone to protect their “pResident” – including lying, covering for him, perjuring themselves, and breaking the law – have been, in and of themselves, staggering in their depth of depravity and breath-taking in their breadth of corruption. And yes, at times laughable in their incredulity.
But given Trump’s stupidity, his inability to keep his lies straight, and his arrogant belief that he is untouchable, all of the lies, the cover-ups, and law-breaking on the part of his party have now gone for naught.
While the GOP spokes-whores are busy on the TV machine insisting that Trump didn’t do what the Democrats are accusing him of – i.e. soliciting the leader of a foreign nation to ‘dig up dirt’ on a political rival – The Dotard has been busy running his mouth admitting that he did exactly that, while trying to couch it as being his right because he is above the law.
We’ve seen this comedy act before – and while it’s not funny for the country, it is certainly laugh-inducing on so many levels: the outraged denials of things that proved to be true, the insistence that what we never saw and heard what we have clearly seen and heard, the court jesters like Guiliani publicly melting down while trying to deny facts that were already as evident as they are damning.
Watching the inept spokes-whores on TV tonight, it seems the tack the Republicans are now taking is that the current revelations will simply “go away” if they wait out another news cycle or two.
Scott Jennings said as much on CNN tonight, insisting that this has been the pattern, that the outrage over Mueller’s revelations, Kavanaugh’s appointment, the Stormy Daniels fiasco, etc., have all faded away, and this latest story will be no different. (Of course, none of those issues have actually gone away – but Jennings, like other Trump-humpers, have their heads so far up their “pResident’s” ass, they’re not really up on current affairs.)
He who laughs last laughs best – and despite putting a happy-face on this latest disaster, the Republicans are oh-so-apparently shitting their collective underwear.
In fact, they’re looking like toddlers who, despite sitting on a pile of crap, keep smiling through their own self-induced stink, in hopes the stench isn’t as noticeable as it actually is.
I’m not saying that the Fat Lady has sung. But she’s bellowing from backstage right now, and even the most devoted GOPers can’t help but hear the song she’s about to sing.
It WILL become clearer soon enough.
It’s unclear if the individual read a transcript of the call, heard about it in conversation, or learned of it another way.
Just like with your Uranium One nothing burger and birther bullshit, you critical thinking impaired dumb asses can't get enough of that good Conspiracy Theory Chow, now can ya?
Instead of Godot, We’re Waiting for Decent Republicans Who’ll Put Country Before Party, With Similar Results
Monday, September 23rd, 2019
by Shower Cap | American Madness Journal |
http://showercapblog.com/instead-of-godot-were-waiting-for-decent-republicans-wholl-put-country-before-party-with-similar-results/
Man, Amtrak is phasing out the dining car! I love long train trips, and a solid 60% of the craziest conversations I’ve ever had have come in those charming-if-forced social interactions. The end of an era. Lucky for me, the news contains more than enough abject insanity to fill the void. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Vice President Mike Pants made history (as usual, the bad kind), bludgeoning his way through Mackinac Island, Michigan, in an eight-vehicle motorcade, despite a century-old ban on cars, because the current administration never misses an opportunity to demonstrate their sneering disdain for their constituents.
Anyway, if you want to take a big fat dump in the middle of a must-win swing state’s breakfast cereal, I say go right ahead, Hairshirt Mike.
Checking in on the information superhighway, the latest viral trend is videos of people climbing Hairplug Himmler’s Big Stupid Wall with the greatest of ease! Fucking hell, have you ever seen anything that encapsulates Trump and Trumpism more perfectly?
Flagrantly racist, unwanted and unnecessary, paid for via an unconstitutional power grab that fucks over people all over the country…and it doesn’t even fucking WORK. It’s a wall. It has ONE JOB.
I guess all you snowflakes are still mad about the whole “blackmailing a foreign nation to fabricate dirt on a political opponent” thing, huh?
And the bit where Pumpkin Spice Pol Pot and his craven enablers pivoted to attacking the whistleblower who revealed his treasonous conduct as a partisan deep state hack, without a moment’s hesitation or a shred of evidence, got under your skin, too?
Aw, are you TRIGGERED by treason? Would you like a SAFE SPACE from the lawless wannabe tyrant burning the whole fucking country down in order to stay out of jail?
Yeah, me too. When I’m triggered, I like to funnel my energy into defeating the cowardly, complicit, Republican Party wherever it rears its shitty little head, don’t you? Anyway, back to the crimez…
Y’know, Rex Tillerson was mightily shitty as Secretary of State, and undoing the damage he did at Foggy Bottom will take years, but my God, give me a hundred Tillersons over one Mike Pompeo, coldly parroting his Turd Emperor’s brazen lies on live teevee.
Gotta admit, this shit sends a chill down my spine; you watch the Pompeo interview, you see a guy shamelessly breaking the law without an ounce of fear of eventual consequences, because he’s grown comfortable with an image of himself as Deputy Führer in a theocratic American Reich that will reign for ten thousand years, and I’ll live to see your head on a pike, pompous journalist scum.
Treasury Secretary Mnuchbag got in on the gaslighting fun, too, denouncing the dastardly-though-imaginary crimes of Hunter Biden, only to vanish in a puff of logic when Jake Tapper pointed out the entire Grift Family Robinshart is traveling the world, at taxpayer expense, stuffing their filthy little pockets with anything that’s not nailed down. Starting to understand why Stevie Boy doesn’t get dispatched to th’shows more frequently.
Willard Romney issued a statement, consisting of the weakest imaginable sauce, filtered through whitest slice of bread on the fucking planet, and debate ensued as to whether or not statues should be erected in his honor for this flimsiest of gestures, because we’ve come to a point in American history where we have higher expectations for a spontaneous unicorn stampede in downtown Detroit than for elected Republicans to stand up for the rule of law.
Meanwhile, folks keep pointing out the way Ben Sasse’s once-loudly-professed principles have vanished like a wad of cotton candy that’s been dropped in a puddle. Anyway, I’m glad to belong to the one party that still values patriotism.
So now I guess we get to wait for Bronco Billy Barr to release his hand-doctored version of the Ukraine call transcript. I wouldn’t worry about it; after all, he was so fair and thorough in his representation of the Mueller report.
The real action, as smarter folks than yer humble blogger have pointed out, is the whistleblower’s complaint, which I assume is being launched into the sun as we speak, alongside Sharty McFly’s tax returns.
Replacement Sarah Slanders/Not Our Real Mom Stephanie Grisham says she won’t be bringing back daily press briefings any time soon, because accountability is for CUCKS, and also because doing the job we the people pay her to do might cut into her drinking and driving time.
The Alaska GOP jumped on the Fuck Voters and Fuck Voting Fuck Them Both So Very Very Hard bandwagon, canceling their 2020 primary to spare Baron Golfin von Fatfuk the trouble of making his case to the people he’s been failing so spectacularly and regularly.
Hey, when a political party repeatedly demonstrates its eagerness to do away with all that pesky democracy, that seems to me like the sort of thing that might merit a bit more fucking attention than it’s getting.
Dinesh D’Souza, like so many right-wing grifters, relies on generating attention-getting outrage in order to snatch up his share of that sweet, sweet, rube money, and so he decided to call Greta Thunberg, who, in leading a movement that turned out millions of marchers a few days ago, has accomplished more in 16 years than Dinesh has in his entire misspent life (and with significantly fewer felony convictions), a Nazi. I guess it must be liberating, in a way, to be so divorced from shame and morality that you can casually demonize children, but on balance I prefer not being a raging shitsack.
It’s not just foreign countries, desperate for U.S. aid, who’ve been conscripted, against their will, into the Committee to Re-Elect the Scrotal Tumor, it’s you and me, the American taxpayer*!
Twenty-eight billion dollars worth of bribes to farmers to please please please vote for him again even though he’s hand-delivered your markets, gift-wrapped with a goddamned bow on top, to your competitors…and like everything he touches with his tiny, inadequate, little hands, it’s not even fucking working.
Yet another shitty white boy would-be mass-murderer, this time a U.S. solider, was arrested for threatening to bomb a major news network, because while the trade deals aren’t materializing and the manufacturing jobs keep on disappearing, the stochastic terrorism is working out quite nicely.
Y’all know Judd Legum, yes? He writes a great independent newsletter called Popular Information and today, he more or less single-handedly took down a gigantic pro-Trump Ukrainian troll farm that had amassed a genuinely terrifying reach on Facebook. Sunshine truly is the best disinfectant, and we should celebrate this significant victory in the War for Reality, probably by supporting Legum’s work.
And the Velveeta Vulgarian swung by the United Nations Climate Action Summit just long enough to drop a few overdone steak farts in the room, before wandering out to threaten one of his leading political rivals with capital punishment. The election’s more than a year away, and we’ve already progressed from “Lock her up” to “Fry, Joe, fry?” Is there enough beer in the whole godforsaken world to get me through 2020?
And when he’s not lost in erotic fantasies of electrocuting Joe Biden, the Marmalade Shartcannon is off doing what he does best; whining like a rich kid who didn’t get the Happy Meal toy he wanted.
The Nobel Prize people are soooooo unfair to him, y’see, cuz even if he has yet to accomplish half an inch’s worth of actual progress with North Korea, or the Taliban, or Israel, he should get credit for all the praise he’s lavished upon himself, which more important than dumb ol’ peace anyway, right?
Old man, you’ve opened concentration camps where you deny children access to health care and basic hygiene; the Nobel thing is off the table. You’ll just have to console yourself with the millions of dollars you’ve stolen from us taxpayers, ‘kay?
Is any of this still funny? Some days I feel like I’m going HA HA THE BASTARDS WHO ARE SYSTEMATICALLY DESTROYING DEMOCRACY ARE POOPYHEADS HA HA. Anyway, it’s a bit shorter than usual tonight, probably because everybody’s focused on whether the Dotard finally betrayed America too hard this time. I’m choosing to view it as a blessing, I’ll be using the extra time to re-read King Lear**.
PS – While I’ve been workin’ up this piece, an avalanche of new Dem Congressfolk, including vulnerable swing district freshmen, have joined the calls to Impeach the Motherfucker already, and I think it’s gonna happen. Put on your fightin’ shoes, Resisters, they will need our help.
*No disrespect meant to my international readers, also can I sleep on your couch when the Second Civil War starts?
**Or drink and play MarioKart, whichever one lets me drink and play MarioKart.
And man don't they have a shit load of those? I hope that all GOPERS sleep uneasily with the light on in there bedrooms, and all of the lights are energy efficient LED's.
Many of them are shaped like incandescents so that your average ACE Hardware/Home Depot/Lowes reps can con the Trumpanzees that they are the new improved incandescent bulbs.
LOL!
He’s become an all-purpose boogeyman.