45th President of the United States, Donald Trump (Vol. 7)
Discussion
Republican Sen. John Kennedy claimed on Sunday in an interview with NBC, that “Russia was very aggressive and they're much more sophisticated, but the fact that Russia was so aggressive does not exclude the fact that President Poroshenko actively worked for Secretary Clinton,”
There's no evidence to support this claim by trump, repeated by GOP senators, even the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee thoroughly investigated that theory, according to people with direct knowledge of the inquiry, and found no evidence that Ukraine waged a top-down interference campaign akin to the Kremlin’s efforts to help Trump win in 2016.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/02/senate-pa...
There's no evidence to support this claim by trump, repeated by GOP senators, even the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee thoroughly investigated that theory, according to people with direct knowledge of the inquiry, and found no evidence that Ukraine waged a top-down interference campaign akin to the Kremlin’s efforts to help Trump win in 2016.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/02/senate-pa...
The federal judge in Washington who ordered former White House counsel Don McGahn to comply with a congressional subpoena will not put that ruling on hold while it’s appealed.
U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson denied Monday the administration’s request for a stay. The administration has already asked an appeals court to put on hold her order from last week that McGahn testify. The appeals court has put the ruling on an administrative hold, and has scheduled briefing and oral arguments on the merits of the appeal.
On Monday, the judge said that the Justice Department could not “make a persuasive showing of irreparable harm in the absence of a colorable argument that McGahn’s mere appearance before the Judiciary Committee would, in and of itself, be harmful.”
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/don-mcghan-stay...
U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson denied Monday the administration’s request for a stay. The administration has already asked an appeals court to put on hold her order from last week that McGahn testify. The appeals court has put the ruling on an administrative hold, and has scheduled briefing and oral arguments on the merits of the appeal.
On Monday, the judge said that the Justice Department could not “make a persuasive showing of irreparable harm in the absence of a colorable argument that McGahn’s mere appearance before the Judiciary Committee would, in and of itself, be harmful.”
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/don-mcghan-stay...
More trump lies exposed
Trump has claimed Mueller applied to be FBI director and was "turned down." But the documents don't back up the president's version of events.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment...
Trump has claimed Mueller applied to be FBI director and was "turned down." But the documents don't back up the president's version of events.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment...
Barr is still trying to cover up for trump but "The inspector general operates independently of Justice Department leadership, so Barr cannot order Horowitz to change his findings."
Attorney General William P. Barr has told associates he disagrees with the Justice Department’s inspector general on one of the key findings in an upcoming report — that the FBI had enough information in July 2016 to justify launching an investigation into members of the Trump campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, is due to release his long-awaited findings in a week, but behind the scenes at the Justice Department, disagreement has surfaced about one of Horowitz’s central conclusions on the origins of the Russia investigation. The discord could be the prelude to a major fissure within federal law enforcement on the controversial question of investigating a presidential campaign.
It’s not yet clear how Barr plans to make his objection to Horowitz’s conclusion known.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/b...
Attorney General William P. Barr has told associates he disagrees with the Justice Department’s inspector general on one of the key findings in an upcoming report — that the FBI had enough information in July 2016 to justify launching an investigation into members of the Trump campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, is due to release his long-awaited findings in a week, but behind the scenes at the Justice Department, disagreement has surfaced about one of Horowitz’s central conclusions on the origins of the Russia investigation. The discord could be the prelude to a major fissure within federal law enforcement on the controversial question of investigating a presidential campaign.
It’s not yet clear how Barr plans to make his objection to Horowitz’s conclusion known.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/b...
Buzzfeed news , using the Freedom of Information Act, BuzzFeed News, and later CNN, sued to gain access to redacted and hidden Mueller documents. They are now releasing a second batch
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/...
Michael Cohen said Trump family lawyers kept him from telling the truth.
Michael Cohen told FBI he told Trump in 2016 he spoke with a "woman from the Kremlin" about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow
After Cohen's office was raided by FBI he spoke to Jay Sekulow about pardons & said, "he had been a loyal lawyer & servant"
Hope Hicks told the FBI that Putin called to congratulate Trump is one thing, but there is proof in emails that they did at 4AM after he won. "Extremely urgent..." for Putin to congratulate Trump
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1201624295...
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/...
Michael Cohen said Trump family lawyers kept him from telling the truth.
Michael Cohen told FBI he told Trump in 2016 he spoke with a "woman from the Kremlin" about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow
After Cohen's office was raided by FBI he spoke to Jay Sekulow about pardons & said, "he had been a loyal lawyer & servant"
Hope Hicks told the FBI that Putin called to congratulate Trump is one thing, but there is proof in emails that they did at 4AM after he won. "Extremely urgent..." for Putin to congratulate Trump
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1201624295...
N Y Times has a follow up on this, including:
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told the FBI he was “angry, ashamed, horrified and embarrassed” at the way James Comey was fired as FBI director, according to records released Monday.
Rosenstein was interviewed by FBI agents several weeks after Comey’s firing as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. An FBI summary of that interview was among roughly 300 pages of documents released as part of public records lawsuits brought by BuzzFeed News and CNN.
The records also include summaries of FBI interviews of key Trump associates, including Hope Hicks, Corey Lewandowski and Michael Cohen. They provide additional insight into Mueller’s two-year investigation, which shadowed the first part of Trump’s presidency and preceded an ongoing impeachment inquiry centered on his efforts to press Ukraine for investigations of political rival Joe Biden.
Hicks described efforts to prepare for media scrutiny of a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Russians and the president’s oldest son. Lewandowski told investigators the president prodded him to tell then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to make an announcement that the scope of the Russia investigation had been limited to future election interference.
And Cohen, who is now serving a three-year prison sentence for campaign finance violations and lying to Congress, told investigators he advised Trump’s personal lawyer that there was more detail about a proposed deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow than what he had shared with lawmakers. He said he “vaguely recalled” telling Jay Sekulow about a call he had “with a woman from the Kremlin,” and said Sekulow’s response was in line with “so what’’ and the deal never happened, according to the FBI document.
Sekulow told The Associated Press on Monday night that Cohen’s statements were false and that Cohen never told him anything about any call with a woman from Russia.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/02/us/pol...
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told the FBI he was “angry, ashamed, horrified and embarrassed” at the way James Comey was fired as FBI director, according to records released Monday.
Rosenstein was interviewed by FBI agents several weeks after Comey’s firing as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. An FBI summary of that interview was among roughly 300 pages of documents released as part of public records lawsuits brought by BuzzFeed News and CNN.
The records also include summaries of FBI interviews of key Trump associates, including Hope Hicks, Corey Lewandowski and Michael Cohen. They provide additional insight into Mueller’s two-year investigation, which shadowed the first part of Trump’s presidency and preceded an ongoing impeachment inquiry centered on his efforts to press Ukraine for investigations of political rival Joe Biden.
Hicks described efforts to prepare for media scrutiny of a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Russians and the president’s oldest son. Lewandowski told investigators the president prodded him to tell then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to make an announcement that the scope of the Russia investigation had been limited to future election interference.
And Cohen, who is now serving a three-year prison sentence for campaign finance violations and lying to Congress, told investigators he advised Trump’s personal lawyer that there was more detail about a proposed deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow than what he had shared with lawmakers. He said he “vaguely recalled” telling Jay Sekulow about a call he had “with a woman from the Kremlin,” and said Sekulow’s response was in line with “so what’’ and the deal never happened, according to the FBI document.
Sekulow told The Associated Press on Monday night that Cohen’s statements were false and that Cohen never told him anything about any call with a woman from Russia.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/02/us/pol...
Swamp news:
North Dakota company that Trump repeatedly and personally pushed to receive a contract to build his border wall just received a $400 million contract. Officials had previously balked at awarding bid to Fisher, who of course is owned by a GOP donor.
Trump has repeatedly pushed for Fisher to get a wall-building contract, urging officials with the Army Corps of Engineers to pick the firm — only to be told that Fisher’s bids did not meet standards. Trump’s entreaties on behalf of the company have concerned some officials who are unaccustomed to a president getting personally involved in the intricacies of government contracting.
Trump has been enamored with Tommy Fisher, the company’s chief executive, who has made multiple appearances on Fox News to promote his firm and insists that it would do a better job than those the government had already chosen.
Trump has pledged to complete 450 to 500 miles of new border barriers by the end of next year. So far his administration has built about 85 miles of fencing, almost all of it in areas where tall steel bollards are replacing smaller, older structures that were there before he took office.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/north-d...
North Dakota company that Trump repeatedly and personally pushed to receive a contract to build his border wall just received a $400 million contract. Officials had previously balked at awarding bid to Fisher, who of course is owned by a GOP donor.
Trump has repeatedly pushed for Fisher to get a wall-building contract, urging officials with the Army Corps of Engineers to pick the firm — only to be told that Fisher’s bids did not meet standards. Trump’s entreaties on behalf of the company have concerned some officials who are unaccustomed to a president getting personally involved in the intricacies of government contracting.
Trump has been enamored with Tommy Fisher, the company’s chief executive, who has made multiple appearances on Fox News to promote his firm and insists that it would do a better job than those the government had already chosen.
Trump has pledged to complete 450 to 500 miles of new border barriers by the end of next year. So far his administration has built about 85 miles of fencing, almost all of it in areas where tall steel bollards are replacing smaller, older structures that were there before he took office.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/north-d...
The SDNY and FBI investigators are making their way through what one prosecutor called a "voluminous" amount of evidence in the Lev Parnas-Igor Fruman case — around 9 gigabytes' worth. The material includes electronic devices, phone records & bank records.
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/02/784164817/prosecuto...
Schiff said last night on Maddow that he's in regular contact with Parnas attorney and the information he’s been getting from Parnas is “relevant.” He also made a point of spelling out that his coordination with Parnas will not interfere with the ongoing federal criminal case being brought by the SDNY.
The SDNY yesterday revealed in court that superseding indictments in the Ukraine investigation are coming, which appears to point to criminal charges against Rudy Giuliani and perhaps others.
Remember that in the SDNY indictment of Paul Manafort and his partner, Rick Gates, the description of his and Gates’ case was labeled Indictment B, Indictment A has never been revealed but is assumed to be trump.
Edit: remember Parnas and Fruman already face charges related to donations they made in Nevada and Texas, but not the donations they made to Florida Republicans Ron DeSantis, Rick Scott and Brian Mast.
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/02/784164817/prosecuto...
Schiff said last night on Maddow that he's in regular contact with Parnas attorney and the information he’s been getting from Parnas is “relevant.” He also made a point of spelling out that his coordination with Parnas will not interfere with the ongoing federal criminal case being brought by the SDNY.
The SDNY yesterday revealed in court that superseding indictments in the Ukraine investigation are coming, which appears to point to criminal charges against Rudy Giuliani and perhaps others.
Remember that in the SDNY indictment of Paul Manafort and his partner, Rick Gates, the description of his and Gates’ case was labeled Indictment B, Indictment A has never been revealed but is assumed to be trump.
Edit: remember Parnas and Fruman already face charges related to donations they made in Nevada and Texas, but not the donations they made to Florida Republicans Ron DeSantis, Rick Scott and Brian Mast.
Edited by Byker28i on Tuesday 3rd December 07:35
When trump publicly signed the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act”, he didn't mention he'd attached a caveat, as mentioned only in the white house press office statement
"Certain provisions of the Act would interfere with the exercise of the President’s constitutional authority to state the foreign policy of the United States. My Administration will treat each of the provisions of the Act consistently with the President’s constitutional authorities with respect to foreign relations.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/st...
So I guess we strike that one from things he has achieved. Not surprised at the fence sitting as during the recent phone-in interview with Fox and Friends, he had declared that “we have to stand with Hong Kong, but I’m also standing with President Xi. … He is a friend of mine.” (good people of both sides argument again...)
In response, amongnst others, Chuck Schumer has said: “President Trump: Congress passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act overwhelmingly. Decency, humanity and the rule of law compel you to enforce it. Stop playing games. We cannot afford for you to be soft on the Chinese Communist Party.”
"Certain provisions of the Act would interfere with the exercise of the President’s constitutional authority to state the foreign policy of the United States. My Administration will treat each of the provisions of the Act consistently with the President’s constitutional authorities with respect to foreign relations.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/st...
So I guess we strike that one from things he has achieved. Not surprised at the fence sitting as during the recent phone-in interview with Fox and Friends, he had declared that “we have to stand with Hong Kong, but I’m also standing with President Xi. … He is a friend of mine.” (good people of both sides argument again...)
In response, amongnst others, Chuck Schumer has said: “President Trump: Congress passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act overwhelmingly. Decency, humanity and the rule of law compel you to enforce it. Stop playing games. We cannot afford for you to be soft on the Chinese Communist Party.”
Not only Ukraine...
The Trump administration told Congress on Monday that it had lifted a hold last week on $105 million of military aid to Lebanon that budget officials had imposed without explanation.
In recent weeks, lawmakers and reporters had asked administration officials about the mysterious month long hold, which echoed the freeze of military aid to Ukraine over the summer, but got no answers. On Monday, a senior State Department official said the Lebanon aid was good to go.
Analysts said the holdup could give Iran and Russia an opening to exert greater influence over the Lebanese military, and perhaps even allow the Islamic State and Al Qaeda to gain greater footholds in the country. Iran and Russia are giving military support to the brutal government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, which borders Lebanon.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/us/politics/tru...
The Trump administration told Congress on Monday that it had lifted a hold last week on $105 million of military aid to Lebanon that budget officials had imposed without explanation.
In recent weeks, lawmakers and reporters had asked administration officials about the mysterious month long hold, which echoed the freeze of military aid to Ukraine over the summer, but got no answers. On Monday, a senior State Department official said the Lebanon aid was good to go.
Analysts said the holdup could give Iran and Russia an opening to exert greater influence over the Lebanese military, and perhaps even allow the Islamic State and Al Qaeda to gain greater footholds in the country. Iran and Russia are giving military support to the brutal government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, which borders Lebanon.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/us/politics/tru...
t.Byker28i said:
....
10 posts in just over an hour. Most of them in 20mins. At 6am.If you're not a bot you're coming across as a bit obsessed
It's nearly Christmas. Chill out. None of your posting on here will be making the slightest difference. Trump advocates will think you're the mental one. Trump haters will already think your way so you're echoing in that chamber.
The US is suffering as we are at the moment. A proper dearth of quality candidates. To paraphrase George Carlin, when thinking about how dumb Trump is, remember that he beat opponents to get where he is today so how bad must they have been. And looking at the next round jockeying for position he must be laughing his tits off.
Have a mince pie and get some rest.
Murph7355 said:
Byker28i said:
....
10 posts in just over an hour. Most of them in 20mins. At 6am.If you're not a bot you're coming across as a bit obsessed
It's nearly Christmas. Chill out. None of your posting on here will be making the slightest difference. Trump advocates will think you're the mental one. Trump haters will already think your way so you're echoing in that chamber.
The US is suffering as we are at the moment. A proper dearth of quality candidates. To paraphrase George Carlin, when thinking about how dumb Trump is, remember that he beat opponents to get where he is today so how bad must they have been. And looking at the next round jockeying for position he must be laughing his tits off.
Have a mince pie and get some rest.
I look forward to Bykers updates and find they add depth to the headlines we get in the UK
On your point about him beating opponents I would argue that he had a fair bit of help from foreign governments on what we have heard/read so far
Murph7355 said:
10 posts in just over an hour. Most of them in 20mins. At 6am.
If you're not a bot you're coming across as a bit obsessed
That old chestnut. If you're not a bot you're coming across as a bit obsessed
Byker collates news most mornings and posts it here for our perusal.
It's very much appreciated by many.
If you are not one of them, other threads are available.
Don't go down the road of "you're obsessed" etc, as it only reflects on you, not Byker.
Bykers main failing is that he supports Spurs. I won't defend him on that...
For a while too I thought that Byker was rather obsessed with Trump - but I have also come to the conclusion that his postings are invaluable as he keeps us abreast of a lot of nitty gritty smaller scale legal cases, investigations etc that are ongoing all the time into the behaviour of Trump and his cohorts.
Through his posts alone we are aware of all the letters, minutes, communications etc going on between courts, government departments, the Congress and the Senate to a level of detail that even the US media doesn't go into.
Through his posts alone we are aware of all the letters, minutes, communications etc going on between courts, government departments, the Congress and the Senate to a level of detail that even the US media doesn't go into.
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