General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums***BREAKING NEWS****President Trump personally dictated the misleading statement on Donald Trump Jr.
Link to tweet
Kingofalldems
(38,314 posts)haveahart
(905 posts)ginnyinWI
(17,276 posts)imanamerican63
(13,640 posts)greeny2323
(590 posts)Obstruction of justice charges here we come!
calimary
(80,522 posts)I was looking at those tweets in the OP and thinking - "oh pleeeeeeze! Make it so! Make it so!" That's one of my favorite quotes from Captain Jean-Luc Picard - "make it so." I find myself saying that a lot as I read about the consequences of this continuing cavalcade of trump follies.
niyad
(112,065 posts)spanone
(135,586 posts)Glimmer of Hope
(5,823 posts)primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children .
spanone
(135,586 posts)despicable
Caliman73
(11,666 posts)The Magnitsky Act was written to punish the Russians who were responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky by freezing their assets. It seriously undermined Putin's power with wealthy Russians. In response to that Putin ordered that no healthy Russian children were to be eligible for adoption to Americans and froze out current adoptions.
So yes, we know that Trump has no morals or ethics, or "no soul" as you say. He is also incredibly stupid to think that nobody was going to link discussions of the adoptions back to the Magnitsky Act. Putin does not care about Russian children. Trump does not care about Russian children. It was ultimately a discussion about getting the assets unfrozen so that Putin could save face with his oligarchs. All I can say is thank goodness Trump is so incredibly stupid.
Blue Owl
(49,739 posts)n/t
skydive forever
(442 posts)htuttle
(23,738 posts)I wasn't 100% sure whether he was actually behind all the Russian collusion, or just a useful idiot, but i'm sure now.
Trump himself is the one behind it.
uponit7771
(90,193 posts)... believe him if he says he didn't dictate this memo.
Sounds like Trump is trying to get rid of McMaster ... KGOP is starting to panic and trying to run from the Trump Chit Show
malaise
(267,460 posts)Rec
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)staff beginning to worry " about legal jeopardy."
malaise
(267,460 posts)Notice how quickly 'family friend of the Duggars' fessed up that he 'weighed in..like any father'.
You'd think Con Jr. was a teenager.
A short while ago the Con was not involved at all.
LOCK THEM UP!
leftstreet
(36,064 posts)HipChick
(25,485 posts)Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)Time to call out the White House Plumbers again!
wishstar
(5,264 posts)tanyev
(42,278 posts)Gothmog
(143,654 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)MyNameIsKhan
(2,205 posts)Caliman73
(11,666 posts)He can certainly always fire Mueller, but as Graham said, "It will be the beginning of the end for the Trump presidency." The longer he waits and the more that comes out, the worse it will look if he fires Mueller. Trump will probably not care because he is so far up his own ass that he may even believe that he is not guilty of what he is certainly guilty of. His supporters will rationalize it, but the rest of the country will understand what it means that the president coordinated with a foreign government to cheat in an election.
C_U_L8R
(44,872 posts)Bleacher Creature
(11,230 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,127 posts)Ultimately, the people said, the president signed off on a statement from Donald Trump Jr. for The Times that was so incomplete that it required day after day of follow-up statements, each more revealing than the last. It culminated on Tuesday with a release of emails making clear that Mr. Trumps son believed the Russian lawyer was seeking to meet with him to provide incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/us/politics/russia-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-ab-top-region
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)but yeah, you're right ... now that you mention it, that NYT story from 3 weeks ago ... is pretty much the exact story we're getting today in the WaPo. Trump is just described as a bit more directly involved ... but I don't see how that matters. The fact he 'signed off on the excuses' was pretty dang close to what we're hearing today.
And it's not gonna amount to shit unless someone can prove he SENT his guys to the meeting, AND told them to discuss exchanging dropping sanctions for help from Russia to win the election. Which neither today's story (nor this one) in no way ... actually do.
Ergo, seems like much ado about nothing, unless I'm somehow missing something.
Brother Buzz
(36,127 posts)Perhaps this time the story will grow legs.
wishstar
(5,264 posts)Original article made it sound like others worked together drafting a statement that Trump okayed. New article emphasizes that rather than just going along with statement written by others, Trump actually authored the statement and was the originator of the deceptive "adoption" cover story, having decided against advice of others who wanted more complete and accurate disclosure
Brother Buzz
(36,127 posts)Juniors statement has more than 140 characters!
That being said, thanks for the clarification
I thought that adoption angle was weak sauce from the get-go, then we learned from the Browder testimony, 'adoptions' was really code for Russian sanctions. Follow the money.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)And, it's clear now that it was the exact NYTimes story you reference that I was remembering.
Initech
(99,881 posts)The GOP accuses Hillary of selling out her own daughter - which never in a million years would ever possibly happen. But Trump sells out his own son and the fuckers are utterly silent on the issue. God damn them!
denbot
(9,894 posts)He is so stupid he thinks his bullshit would fly, and so childish, he thinks he knows better then his lawyers, advisers, and staff.
Snake Plissken
(4,103 posts)It's time to call the priest in to give this administration it's last rites, drink it up fellas, it's closing time.
Ccarmona
(1,180 posts)You mean nothing going on up until now alerted the "Advisors" ?
They're either delusional or just plain stupid.
rainbow4321
(9,974 posts)Because they had knowledge and helped him carry it all out...and are realizing that THEY need to lawyer up without the help of Trump/his family paying their lawyer fees.
I have no sympathy for them. They could have either never gotten on the Trump Train or jumped off a long time ago.
Boomerproud
(7,875 posts)This crowd is so far over its head it is getting too late for a lifeguard. Will it take a catastrophic event for the trumpets to wake up? The rest of us do not deserve to go down with them.
sandensea
(21,460 posts)I once had a class where the TA would read every last word from the professor's material, right down to the "turn page" and "turn projector off."
DesertRat
(27,995 posts)Turbineguy
(37,127 posts)he's in this up to his lower lip.
bluestarone
(16,641 posts)to these bastards
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)Or Steve Bannon messing with all of them?
XRubicon
(2,212 posts)Docreed2003
(16,793 posts)Lmao....because of course he did!!! That's the prototypical trump!
JDC
(10,078 posts)neeksgeek
(1,214 posts)But when I initially read the article in the Washington Post, I actually blurted out, "holy s**t!" So could this be the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back?"
bpositive
(423 posts)This mean from a legal standpoint? Was a law broken? Will someone be going to jail? Impeachable offense?
Also- a leak like this would have come from a inner circle of power? Right? Any dibs on who released this?
Juliusseizure
(562 posts)Besides that, circumstantial evidence of knowledge but issue is when and how.
Juliusseizure
(562 posts)Not collusion, which may not be a federal crime depending on case. Russian gov. covers its tracks. It's murky and technically complex.
Trump controlled the business deals and he's very sloppy. Trump University was a slam dunk. School wasn't even accredited.
Trump has a long history of white collar criminal behavior. He just hasn't been charged due to NY connections w/prosecutors (he pays for their and politicians campaigns, sister was a federal judge). Those crimes are a lot more familiar to attorneys. They know what to look for.
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)ouija
(397 posts)Just doing treason...move along nothing to see here.
W T F
(1,145 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)This is describing events immediately after the article hit the news. So it's possible Trump crafted these excuses after hearing (for the first time, at that time) what the meeting was about, what was discussed, etc.
I mean *I THINK* he knew back at the time of the damn meeting ... but this particular news doesn't establish any proof of that.
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)If Trump was informed of the NYT article and came up with the idea of the statement without having spoken to Jr. or Jared...
Alternatively, it would be surprising if some country's intel service did not have more information on those "secret" meetings he had with Putin at the G20, just before this all came out.
Funny, isn't it? You've got Trump trying to sneak around alone with Putin just before this story breaks. What a coincidence.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)But that sets up a bit of a conundrum: If Daddy didn't know anything about the meeting, why did everyone go along with his statement of the meeting? If Daddy did know about the meeting, then why didn't he make a clean breast* of that, instead drafting a misleading diversionary statement that shaded the truth about six ways from Sunday?
First Rule of Holes: When you find yourself in one, stop digging. Instead, Trump goes and gets a backhoe.
*Oh, grow up.
rainbow4321
(9,974 posts)Interesting phrase to use. This should add to drumf's paranoia...
The WaPo journalist on TV when asked how many sources they have for the breaking news.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)told has somehow become 'the misleading statement' ... as if anybody is ACTUALLY SURE that this is not EXACTLY WHAT was really discussed!?!
Don't they realize 'The Dirt On Hillary Story' can SIMULTANEOUSLY be TRUE, because that part of the story is about what DTJ was told BEFORE the meeting re: what it would be about? Both can be 100% truthful, in actuality.
Anyone asserting 'dirt on Hillary is what was really discussed in the meeting' and suggesting that, therefore 'adoptions' were NOT ... I am highly suspect of their actual motives.
The 'adoption' story is actually EQUALLY incriminating, once you understand it's pertinence and relation to Magnisky Act & Sanctions.
mcar
(42,179 posts)uponit7771
(90,193 posts)... ass'd Benedict Donald doesn't listen in the end.
There's no one to keep Benedict Donald from doing what he wants
C_U_L8R
(44,872 posts)and fucks that up too
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)he just did not think he was talking about himself
asiliveandbreathe
(8,203 posts)to the original emails..and at the end dtrump jr's Dad's dictated response..re adoption....
Adoptions?? - doesn't even fit the narrative of the original subject line..
Subject: Re: Russia - Clinton - private and confidential
Oh, as we know now..adoption=Magnitsky Act=remove sanctions...hey, goes along with the RNC sanction platform being watered down...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/11/us/politics/donald-trump-jr-email-text.html
The Wash Post article is excellent - and I am sure journalists are going to be all over this....the puzzle pieces start to fit, and the Russian/trump connection becomes more clear...they are all in it up to their eyeballs...what lawyer is even going to defend this shit!! There is NO defense....
And let's not forget Manafort wanted Pense for VP and made the trump/pense meeting happen...pathetic..
orangecrush
(19,151 posts)It was just a matter of time...
Enoki33
(1,583 posts)It has got to be more than money laundering and tax evasion.
HipChick
(25,485 posts)D_Master81
(1,822 posts)I have a feeling, it being only Monday, that there is something else to drop later this week. Who knows what it will be, but I remember when the news of this meeting broke it was on the weekend and the story kept evolving as the week went along.
D23MIURG23
(2,821 posts)You'd think ass-cheeto would try to cover his tracks and maintain plausible deniability, but he's so arrogant that he doesn't see the need. It should be fun watching the shithammer finally fall on him. The look on his face when it hits ought to be priceless.
neohippie
(1,140 posts)The fact that this meeting between Trump's campaign and the Russian attorney who represented Prevezon in the Russian money laundering case that was mysteriously settled before going to trial should be very suspect and investigated further.
Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump, who acts as his senior White House adviser, secured a multimillion-dollar Manhattan real estate deal with a Soviet-born oligarch whose company was cited in a major New York money laundering case now being investigated by members of Congress.
Trump not convinced Russian meddling took place, communications chief says
Read more
A Guardian investigation has established a series of overlapping ties and relationships involving alleged Russian money laundering, New York real estate deals and members of Trumps inner circle. They include a 2015 sale of part of the old New York Times building in Manhattan involving Kushner and a billionaire real estate tycoon and diamond mogul, Lev Leviev.
The ties between Trump family real estate deals and Russian money interests are attracting growing interest from the justice departments special counsel, Robert Mueller, as he seeks to determine whether the Trump campaign collaborated with Russia to distort the outcome of the 2016 race. Mueller has reportedly expanded his inquiry to look at real estate deals involving the Trump Organization, as well as Kushners financing.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/24/jared-kushner-new-york-russia-money-laundering
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-v-prevezon-case-settlement-russia-money-laundering-2017-5
.
A major money-laundering case set to go to trial last week in New York was suddenly settled three days earlier, with both the US government and the defendant, the Russian firm Prevezon Holdings, claiming victory.
The asset-forfeiture and money-laundering case was scheduled to begin last Monday, but it was unexpectedly settled for close to $6 million, a little under half of the amount sought by the government at the time the case was settled. The US attorney's office characterized the settlement as a win for anti-corruption efforts in a statement issued late Friday.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)So they were going after a 5% penalty, and settled for 2.5%?
Who says crime doesn't pay? Sheesh ... that's fucking RIDICULOUS.
If this were a regular plebe, it'd be $230M in restitution + more in penalties + 50 years in jail ... what a fucking joke.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)VaBchTgerLily
(231 posts)He and all his minions should go to jail
SHRED
(28,136 posts)sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)The Constitution sets specific grounds for impeachment. They are treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. To be impeached and removed from office, the House and Senate must find that the official committed one of these acts.
Mr.Bill
(24,031 posts)there are no grounds for impeachment. Trump could stand at the podium at a rally in front of 10,000 people and cut the head off a baby and they would not impeach him.
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)Dyedinthewoolliberal
(15,463 posts)an originator of fake news! It's all so clear to me now