President Trump- The Implications

[dbacksfan 2.0]

  There is little doubt Trump will make his mark as the biggest clusterf3ck to ever inhabit the White House but calls for impeachment seem a bit premature.

I have friends, (college educated, a couple with masters degrees in their mid 40's to late 50's) that have been pleading for his impeachment and and the abolishing of the electoral college since November 9th. Some ask weekly why hasn't he been arrested and in jail. It's the further change to "Guilty until proven innocent" that people have become.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I have friends, (college educated, a couple with masters degrees in their mid 40's to late 50's) that have been pleading for his impeachment and and the abolishing of the electoral college since November 9th. Some ask weekly why hasn't he been arrested and in jail. It's the further change to "Guilty until proven innocent" that people have become.

Yeah...they are taking their cue from Trump's playbook - saying he was gonna put Hillary in prison....


Question they should be asking is why the Republican Congress has not even started investigations into the events that are driving those questions.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Yeah...they are taking their cue from Trump's playbook - saying he was gonna put Hillary in prison....


Question they should be asking is why the Republican Congress has not even started investigations into the events that are driving those questions.

I will say this, find the evidence that shows proof of a crime and have a hearing. If it's true proceed with impeachment. Someone just finish the damned issues, I'll stand by the findings either way.

[swake]

So at what point though does a POTUS asking a bureaucrat to stop an investigation actually amount to obstruction of justice or some other high crime or misdemeanor?

When he fires said bureaucrat for not doing that illegal thing he asked for.

[heironymouspasparagus]

So at what point though does a POTUS asking a bureaucrat to stop an investigation actually amount to obstruction of justice or some other high crime or misdemeanor?

The instant it happens.

[swake]

When he fires said bureaucrat for not doing that illegal thing he asked for.

While I don't think what we currently know is enough to impeach, the question I want answered is what does Flynn have on Trump for him to stick his neck out so far to save him? That is completely NOT Trump to risk himself for others.

Pee pee tape?

[Hoss]

So now, Dump goes in front of a group CG graduates and whines about how he's being treated.

Wow.  Get this guy a binky.  Stat.

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/trump-whines-about-unfair-media-treatment-while-addressing-coast-guard-grads-headed-to-active-duty/

[Conan71]

The instant it happens.

Is it though?

Simply asking someone to stop an investigation isn't trying to steer or influence its outcome.  It's a simple request.  I'm simply trying to wrap my head around the legal tipping point as to when or if a direct statement or request to stop be construed as obstruction of justice?

Let me try an example here, and perhaps an office holder should be put to a higher standard:

Let's say someone keeps stealing my neighbor's mail.  The postal inspector suspects I or someone else in my house is the culprit.  They show up several times, interview me, my spouse, my five kids, and my housekeeper Consuela.  They dig into my background, financials, etc.  I know I had nothing to do with it and I'm tired of being harassed about it yet they keep digging and keep interrupting my personal time and I'm required to take PTO for interviews or to provide records.  I finally just get fed up and ask or tell the postal inspector to stop the investigation as I know there's nothing to it and it's a huge distraction to my life.  I don't see anywhere that would be an obstruction of justice, it is a simple request to cease and desist.

I would think obstruction would be if I try to conceal bank account records or attempted to coerce a neighbor to lie and tell the postal inspector that their outdoor security cameras were dead at the time these thefts were on-going.

JMO, asking someone to stop an investigation is not the same thing as withholding or destroying evidence.  Comey showed so much incompetence for his job I'm not sure you can really clearly draw a line and suggest that firing him was an attempt to obstruct justice.  Comey seems to have been about as smart as Inspector Clouseau.

Perhaps one of the two attorneys here would like to share their interpretation of obstruction.

And finally, I'm not seeing much difference here than when people were trying to dig up impeachable offenses on Obama.  There was never anything to it and I would be surprised if an impeachment of Trump will ever happen.  The best we can hope for is he decides he doesn't like being POTUS and quits on a whim or he gets his a ss handed to him in the 2020 election.

[swake]

Robert Mueller named as Special Prosecutor for this "fake news" conspiracy theory.

[guido911]

Good. Now people can shut up about everything Russia and the world can move forward.

[swake]

Good. Now people can shut up about everything Russia and the world can move forward.

Shut up?  Oh he!!s no.  Now it's getting fun!

[guido911]

Shut up?  Oh he!!s no.  Now it's getting fun!

Yeah. Benghazi was a hoot wasn't it? Email-gate? Lots of laughs.

[swake]

Yeah. Benghazi was a hoot wasn't it? Email-gate? Lots of laughs.

Pshh, those never had a Grand Jury or Special Prosecutor. Just grandstanding congressmen. This is far different.

Hey, did you hear the one where the Republican Majority Leader said that Trump was paid for by Putin? It's a knee slapper!

(UI: Unidentified individual)
UI: Kevin had the Ukrainian prime minister this morning.
Ryan: Oh, so did I. I just left him in the health care... [unintelligible].
UI: Okay.
Ryan: This guy's a good guy.
[Crosstalk]
Ryan: This guy's a pretty good guy.
Rodgers: Is this the guy who's been there a while?
Ryan: No, he's new. He was the speaker of the [unintelligible].
Rodgers: Their other prime minister got kicked out, right?
Ryan: Right. This guy's like the anti-corruption guy. This guy's there because he's the anticorruption guy. He was the speaker...
Rodgers: Okay.
Ryan: And he's the one who was working on the amendments to the constitution [unintelligible]...independent judiciary.
Rodgers: Okay.
Ryan: They got that in now...[unintelligible]...and he's passing...and he's passing all these anticorruption laws.
Rodgers: How are things going in Ukraine?
Ryan: What's that?
Rodgers: How are things going in Ukraine?
Ryan: Well, the Russians are bombing them 30-40...um, um...shells a day and the people. Crimea is gone. And, they're trying to clean up their government to show that they want to be western. So they're trying to prove to the western world that they want to be western, or westernizing, so they can get support to get their country back. They're [unintelligible]. Everybody talks a good game on what they're doing, but he's passed all these anti-corruption laws. The question is are they, like, executing...[unintelligible]...I think by the summer they'll have it all done.
Rodgers: Did he talk about their economy?
Ryan: Yeah, this is about getting actual growth and not graft growth, so...no, it's not good, but...
Rodgers: I went there a year ago. It was like wow. These people are living...they're on the front lines. They're fighting for their freedom...it's, uh...their independence.
Ryan: He basically...He has this really interesting riff about... people have said that they have Ukraine fatigue, and it's really Russian fatigue because what Russia is doing is doing to us, financing our populists, financing people in our governments to undo our governments, you know, messing with our oil and gas energy, all the things Russia does to basically blow up our country, they're just going to roll right through us and go to the Baltics and everyone else.
Rodgers: Yes!
Ryan: So we should not have Ukraine fatigue, we should have Russian fatigue. Rodgers: Yes! The propaganda...my big takeaway from that trip was just how sophisticated the propaganda...
Ryan: It's very sophisticated.
Rodgers:...coming out of Russia and Putin.
Ryan: Very sophisticated. [Crosstalk]
Rodgers: Not just in Ukraine. They were once funding the NGOs in Europe. They attacked fracking.
Ryan: Correct.
Rodgers: Russia TV. I was not...you know...I hadn't tuned into Russia TV until that trip. It's, it's frightening.
Ryan: So he's saying they're doing this throughout Europe. So, uh... [Unintelligible]
Ryan: This is, this isn't just about Ukraine.
Rodgers: So, yeah, it is a, um...[unintelligible]...a way...it's really a messaging...you know...they are...it's a propaganda war.
Ryan: Russia is trying to turn Ukraine against itself.
Rodgers: Yes. And that's...it's sophisticated and it's, uh...
Ryan: Maniacal.
Rodgers: Yes.
Ryan: And guess...guess who's the only one taking a strong stand up against it? We are.
Rodgers: We're not...we're not...but, we're not...
McCarthy: [unintelligible]...I'll GUARANTEE you that's what it is. [Unintelligible]
McCarthy: The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp research that they had on Trump.
McCarthy: laughs [Crosstalk]
Ryan: The Russian's hacked the DNC...
McHenry: ...to get oppo...
Ryan: ...on Trump and like delivered it to...to who? [Unintelligible]
McCarthy: There's...there's two people, I think, Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump...[laughter]...swear to God.
Ryan: This is an off the record...[laughter]...NO LEAKS...[laughter]...alright?! [Laughter]
Ryan: This is how we know we're a real family here.
Scalise: That's how you know that we're tight. [Laughter]
Ryan: What's said in the family stays in the family.

[guido911]

^^^^To which McCarthy tweeted:

    This was an attempt at humor gone wrong. No surprise @WashingtonPost tried to contort this into breaking news.

    — Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) May 17, 2017

[heironymouspasparagus]

Yeah. Benghazi was a hoot wasn't it? Email-gate? Lots of laughs.

Yeah...hoot... Email gate, too.  Brought to you by the RWRE...over and over and over again.   No grounds whatsoever....over and over and over again.


Hey!  Here's an idea - why don't those same clowns do even 1 Congressional investigation on the 86 killed and the hundreds wounded in diplomatic missions around the world during Baby Bush's regime?    Or how about just asking one or two questions about the 22 million emails Baby Bush deleted from his private, unsecured email server during his regime?  Couldn't have been anything classified on that, could there?

Once again - the hypocrisy, distortions, and lies are truly monumental in scope and magnitude!