Trump II

[Schewe]

The whole thing about what Trump said is silly. Why would Trump care about Flynn, the guy he fired, enough to obstruct justice? For Flynn not filing a form?

Lying to the FBI is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Guess you weren't paying attention when Sally Yates testified that Flynn told investigators he had no Russian contacts but wire tapps had him talking to the Russian Ambassador about sanctions...

You can refuse to answer FBI questions but if they catch you in a lie you go to jail.

And yes...it IS curious why Trump would go out on a limb for Flynn. Wonder what Flynn has to say that he hopes is worth immunity? Got anyy guesses?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Ex-U.S. Attorney Bharara tells of 'unusual' calls he received from Trump
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-bharara-idUSKBN19211S

"Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara revealed on Sunday that he received a handful of "unusual" phone calls from Donald Trump after the November election that made him feel uncomfortable, and said he was fired after declining to take the third call.

Speaking on ABC News' "This Week" in his first televised interview since Trump fired him in March as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Bharara said he believed Trump's calls to him violated the usual boundaries between the executive branch and independent criminal investigators.

"It's a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning between the president and me or any United States attorney who has been asked to investigate various things and is in a position hypothetically to investigate business interests and associates of the president," Bharara said.

He added that during President Barack Obama's tenure, Obama never called him directly."

[...]

"The third call, however, came two days after Trump's inauguration. That time, he said, he refused to call back.

"The call came in. I got a message. We deliberated over it, thought it was inappropriate to return the call. And 22 hours later I was asked to resign along with 45 other people," he said.

Bharara stopped short of saying whether he thought Trump had obstructed justice in his conversations and subsequent firing of Comey.

However, he said he thought there was "absolutely evidence to begin a case" into the matter."



Cheers,
Bart

[Alan Klein]

Ex-U.S. Attorney Bharara tells of 'unusual' calls he received from Trump
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-bharara-idUSKBN19211S

"Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara revealed on Sunday that he received a handful of "unusual" phone calls from Donald Trump after the November election that made him feel uncomfortable, and said he was fired after declining to take the third call.

Speaking on ABC News' "This Week" in his first televised interview since Trump fired him in March as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Bharara said he believed Trump's calls to him violated the usual boundaries between the executive branch and independent criminal investigators.

"It's a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning between the president and me or any United States attorney who has been asked to investigate various things and is in a position hypothetically to investigate business interests and associates of the president," Bharara said.

He added that during President Barack Obama's tenure, Obama never called him directly."

[...]

"The third call, however, came two days after Trump's inauguration. That time, he said, he refused to call back.

"The call came in. I got a message. We deliberated over it, thought it was inappropriate to return the call. And 22 hours later I was asked to resign along with 45 other people," he said.

Bharara stopped short of saying whether he thought Trump had obstructed justice in his conversations and subsequent firing of Comey.

However, he said he thought there was "absolutely evidence to begin a case" into the matter."



Cheers,
Bart

Preet was a good US Attorney in New York that Trump wanted to keep on initially.  You said Preet complained that it's normal practice for the President to meet with US Attorneys like Preet with the Attorney General being present.  Preet knows that there was no Attorney General until Sessions became AJ in February, long after the inauguration and the third call that Preet didn't take.  There was only a fill-in from the previous Democrat adminsitration that didn't do her job and Trump had to fire also.  Trump is good at firing people.  These people should have watched his TV show and learned how to keep their jobs.

The President wanted to speak to the US Attorneys that he hires.  That's his right.  The people elected him not Preet and not the Attorney General.  He's the boss who hires and fires them all, just like the FBI Director.  Preet should have taken the call.  Let me add that your post states Preet indicated no intent by Trump to do anything wrong.  Apparently, he's just pissed off he got fired and is unloading to the media.  Now he'll have to wait for a Democrat president to get his job back.  I'm sure by that time, he won't want it as he'll be working for some law firm defending crooked politicians making millions like the rest of the swamp. 

[Alan Klein]

Lol, probably not. She could easily be gone in days. The impression is of someone in denial and total shock at the election results, and she is surrounded by "trusted colleagues" and "senior ministers" all of whom have now equipped themselves with large carving knives. And in fact it's probably pointless for any foreign leader to visit while the turmoil here continues. There will have to be another election quite soon and I doubt the Conservatives want a Trump visit hanging round their neck. It would be a gift to the other side. Chances are the visit is off.

May should get together with Hillary.  They could commiserate and discuss how it wasn't suppose to go so wrong.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

One doesn't take a call from the President of the United States!? What!?

[Alan Klein]

Lying to the FBI is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Guess you weren't paying attention when Sally Yates testified that Flynn told investigators he had no Russian contacts but wire tapps had him talking to the Russian Ambassador about sanctions...

You can refuse to answer FBI questions but if they catch you in a lie you go to jail.

And yes...it IS curious why Trump would go out on a limb for Flynn. Wonder what Flynn has to say that he hopes is worth immunity? Got anyy guesses?

Well, he may get a bigger fine or something worse.  But Trump didn't tell him to lie to the FBI.  Plus Flynn was fired for lying to the VP.  So I don't see how any of this makes Trump guilty of anything.  You're still hoping for Trump and Russia collusion even though Clapper and Comey said there's nothing there.   

Now they're trying to say Sessions must have colluded with the Russians because he had tea with them like Hillary and half the Senate.  Jeff, Hillary lost because she was a lousy candidate, worse then Trump, which is pretty bad.  The Russians must be yuking up the whole thing and getting drunk on some good vodka for how things are turning out for them.  Stop helping them feel even better carrying on with all this political nonsense.  It's hurting the country.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

One doesn't take a call from the President of the United States!? What!?

It is not appropriate to speak with the President alone, without the Attorney General present as well.
He did take the calls when Trump was President-elect.

Look at what happened with Comey, with the Attorney General sent out of the room. It's becoming a pattern that will be investigated.

Cheers,
Bart

[Alan Klein]

One doesn't take a call from the President of the United States!? What!?

"Honey, it's the President calling."

"What, again?  He's called me twice since the election.  Doesn't he know I'm busy indicting all those politicians up in Albany and down in Trenton?  I've got more important things to do than chat.  Why doesn't he just go get a haircut if he's got nothing else to do?"

"Well, he said it's about him telling everyone he's keeping you on, unlike what former Presidents do when they fire all the US Attorneys."

"Well, of course he's going to keep me on.  There's no one in the world who could take my place."

"Well, honey, that's how I feel about you too."

[Alan Klein]

It is not appropriate to speak with the President alone, without the Attorney General present as well.
He did take the calls when Trump was President-elect.

Look at what happened with Comey, with the Attorney General sent out of the room. It's becoming a pattern that will be investigated.

Cheers,
Bart

Trump, never before a politician,  does things the way he wants too.  Anyway, I didn't know there was a rule.  The president seems to get on the phone at a moments notice to talk to world leaders too and lots of CEO's.  There's probably a rule against that too.  But, that's who he is and why his supporters voted for him.  To shake things up, be a disrupter.  People don't want another guy who goes along to get along.  Of course that has created problems for his administration.  I suspect he going to follow the "rules" more in the future and maybe become just like most of our previous presidents.  Where is Teddy Roosevelt when you need him.

[Schewe]

Well, he may get a bigger fine or something worse.

Punishable by up to 5 years in jail...not sure where you think he's gonna get off with a fine or something. 5 years is not nothing...

But Trump didn't tell him to lie to the FBI.

How do you know? How do we know Trump didn't tell Flynn to talk to the Russians?

So I don't see how any of this makes Trump guilty of anything.

Don't know...but if as Comey testified under oath, Trump made it clear that he wanted the FBI investigation of Flynn to go away. It's also reported that he asked other to talk to Comey about backing off of Flynn. Remember Coates and Rogers in from to the Intelligence Committee? They refused to answer whether or not Trump asked them to do something–they said they didn't feel "pressured" but they refused to answer the question whether or not Trump asked them to talk to Comey.

So, is Trump guilty of anything? We'll see...while Comey said he was not part of an FBI counter intelligence investigation I think now he may indeed be under investigation for obstruction of justice. And I think Trump will get his chance to testify under oath...he may well rue the day he declared he is “100%” willing to testify under oath about his interactions with James Comey, insisting the former FBI director was untruthful during his testimony on Capitol Hill. I'm pretty sure Marc E. Kasowitz must have slapped himself in the forehead when he heard Trump agree to testify under oath...Trump really needs to keep his mouth shut about all this but he's incapable of doing so.

So what does he do?

Donald J. Trump  ✔@realDonaldTrump

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'

"prevalent"? Huh?

"Totally illegal?"

Not even close (on a number of levels).

You're still hoping for Trump and Russia collusion even though Clapper and Comey said there's nothing there. 

Are you talking Trump and Russia personally or Trump Team & Russia? Comey never said there was no evidence of collusion between Trump "satellites" and Russia just that Trump wasn't under investigation...and you might want to get off using Clapper because he came back and said don't quote him on the no collusion stuff because he wasn't even aware that the FBI had been investigating since last July.

Read this if you need convincing...

Donald Trump’s Mostly False claim that James Clapper said no collusion found in Russia probe

Our ruling

Trump said, "When James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?"

Some of the public statements by those with knowledge of the FBI investigation do not support Trump’s claim that "virtually everyone" privy to the probe says there’s no evidence of collusion. While Comey has not described specific evidence, he has confirmed that sufficient credible information exists for the FBI to consider the Russia probe a high enough priority to warrant an investigation.

As for Clapper’s statement, it’s apparent Trump has twisted the former DNI’s words to make it appear as if he’s ruled out the possibility that evidence exists showing the Trump campaign colluded with Russian interlopers during the 2016 election. But Clapper’s statement was that he had no knowledge of collusion -- not that collusion didn’t occur. Clapper has since stated that his capacity as DNI would not necessarily give him the kind of access to the FBI investigation that one would need in order to determine whether or not evidence of collusion exists.

We rate Trump’s statement Mostly False.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Preet was a good US Attorney in New York that Trump wanted to keep on initially.  You said Preet complained that it's normal practice for the President to meet with US Attorneys like Preet with the Attorney General being present.  Preet knows that there was no Attorney General until Sessions became AJ in February, long after the inauguration and the third call that Preet didn't take.  There was only a fill-in from the previous Democrat adminsitration that didn't do her job and Trump had to fire also.  Trump is good at firing people.  These people should have watched his TV show and learned how to keep their jobs.

That's the problem with Trump, well one of them anyway, he thinks he's running a TV-show.

On March 11th it was already reported: Defiant U.S. prosecutor fired by Trump administration
"The Washington Post, citing two people close to Trump, said the president's adviser Stephen Bannon and Attorney General Jeff Sessions wanted a clean slate of federal prosecutors to assert the administration's power.

But the decision to replace so many sitting attorneys at once has raised questions about whether the Trump administration's ability to enforce the nation's laws would be hindered. "

So, why was Trump (as Steve Bannon's sockpuppet) trying to cripple the ability to enforce the nation's laws by firing all federal prosecutors before replacements had been selected? Was there something that needed covering up? Or was is just a way of dismantling the legal system, and if so why?

Cheers,
Bart

[Schewe]

100% willing to testify? Uh, no...and wait, Trump may fire Mueller (at least his attorney declined to rule it out)

Trump attorney signals a firm stance in dealing with special prosecutor

President Trump will not unconditionally cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s recently opened investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and any possible coordination with the Trump campaign, a defense lawyer for Trump signaled on Sunday.

The lawyer, Jay Sekulow, also questioned the appropriateness of Mueller’s advance review of the prepared testimony that former FBI Director James B. Comey delivered last week to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

While noting that Trump said Friday he would answer Mueller’s questions under oath, Sekulow declined to rule out ordering at some later date the firing of the widely praised Mueller, who preceded Comey as FBI director.

“The president is going to seek the advice of his counsel and inside the government as well as outside,’’ Sekulow told ABC’s “This Week,’’ adding, “I’m not going to speculate on what he will or will not do.’’

Hum...I suspect Trump wouldn't be stupid enough to fire Mueller but I was surprised when he fired Comey...

But...

[Schewe]

No wonder he was fired...

Fired U.S. Attorney Bharara: There’s “Absolutely Evidence” to Launch Obstruction of Justice Case Against Trump

Former New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who led several high-profile corruption cases until President Donald Trump fired him in March, said there is “absolutely” enough evidence to launch an obstruction of justice case against President Trump for his firing of FBI chief James Comey. “No one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction," Bharara said. “[But] there's no basis to say there's no obstruction.”

In his first televised interview since his firing, Bharara acknowledged that while it is true that Trump could fire Comey at any time for any reason doesn’t automatically absolve the president of any obstruction of justice questions. “This argument that you keep hearing on TV shows—that the mere fact that the President can fire an official at will—doesn’t solve the problem,” he said.

Bharara also said that when he heard Comey talk about the one-on-one conversations with Trump that made him uncomfortable, there was a familiar ring to it. Trump also made a series of “unusual phone calls” to Bharara shortly after being elected president. “It's a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning between the president and me or any United States attorney who has been asked to investigate various things and is in a position hypothetically to investigate business interests and associates of the president,” Bharara said.

[Schewe]

Who would you believe?



The guy who has served 3 presidents from 2 parties, has taught Sunday School, is a University of Chicago Law School grad, was a former District Attorney, was a Senior Law Fellow–Columbia, has 1 wife and 5 children, has had no bankruptcies, has had no fraud lawsuits, was the former Director of the FBI who made copious contemporaneous notes about their meetings and phone calls or...

...the guy who said Obama was from Kenya?

Just asking'

(it's a rhetorical question, no need to answer if you don't want to)

:~)

[Schewe]

Hum...this is gonna piss off the big orange one...
(yes, I know McCain & Trump aren't in a bromance like Trump & Putin but still)

McCain says American leadership was better under Obama: report

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said American leadership was stronger under President Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama, according to a Guardian report published Sunday.

Asked if the country stood on sturdier ground under Obama's leadership, McCain said "yes," according to the report.

“As far as American leadership is concerned, yes," said McCain, who also vocally criticized many of the Obama administration's foreign policy decisions.

[Alan Klein]

Hum...this is gonna piss off the big orange one...
(yes, I know McCain & Trump aren't in a bromance like Trump & Putin but still)

McCain says American leadership was better under Obama: report

McCain is a war hawk against Russia so he considers Trump weak for trying to work things out with Putin.  So naturally he criticizes Trump.  Meanwhile, McCain lost his bid for the presidency in 2008 and now has to salute President Trump in 2017.  It must really piss him off. 

[Alan Klein]

That's the problem with Trump, well one of them anyway, he thinks he's running a TV-show.

On March 11th it was already reported: Defiant U.S. prosecutor fired by Trump administration
"The Washington Post, citing two people close to Trump, said the president's adviser Stephen Bannon and Attorney General Jeff Sessions wanted a clean slate of federal prosecutors to assert the administration's power.

But the decision to replace so many sitting attorneys at once has raised questions about whether the Trump administration's ability to enforce the nation's laws would be hindered. "

So, why was Trump (as Steve Bannon's sockpuppet) trying to cripple the ability to enforce the nation's laws by firing all federal prosecutors before replacements had been selected? Was there something that needed covering up? Or was is just a way of dismantling the legal system, and if so why?

Cheers,
Bart

Obama fired the US Attorneys as did Bush before him.  It happens with every new President when the party changes.  Each president wants US Attorneys to enforce laws that they find important and what they campaigned on, not what a previous president thought important.  As Obama said, "Elections have consequences." 

Preet knew this and should have turned in his resignation when the administration ask all US Attorneys to do that.  It's normal procedure and customary.  But Preet, Mr. Primadonna, thought he was better than all the other US Attorneys in the country and would not resign.  So Trump fired him.  Like I said, he should have taken that phone call.  Maybe Trump would have re-hired him.  But then Preet would have owed his job to Trump not some former president.  A president has a right to make sure his hirelings know who they work for. 
http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2009/05/obama-to-replace-us-attorneys-018390

[Schewe]

Obama fired the US Attorneys as did Bush before him.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2009/05/obama-to-replace-us-attorneys-018390

Uh huh...look at the date of that article.

Obama to replace U.S. Attorneys
By JOSH GERSTEIN 05/15/2009 08:34 AM EDT

President Barack Obama plans to replace a "batch" of U.S. Attorneys in the next few weeks and more prosecutors thereafter, according to Attorney General Eric Holder.

"I expect that we’ll have an announcement in the next couple of weeks with regard to our first batch of U.S attorneys," Holder said Thursday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing which stretched out over most of the day due to breaks for members' votes. "One of the things that we didn’t want to do was to disrupt the continuity of the offices and pull people out of positions where we thought there might be a danger that that might have on the continuity--the effectiveness of the offices.But...elections matter--it is our intention to have the U.S. Attorneys that are selected by President Obama in place as quickly as they can."

So, in the middle of May, Obama was going to replace a "batch" of the U.S. Attorneys. Meanwhile, Trump didn't wait and didn't seem to worry about disrupting the continuity of the offices on March 10th. With no replacements in place...

Trump Abruptly Orders 46 Obama-Era Prosecutors to Resign

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration moved on Friday to sweep away most of the remaining vestiges of Obama administration prosecutors at the Justice Department, ordering 46 holdover United States attorneys to tender their resignations immediately — including Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan.

The firings were a surprise — especially for Mr. Bharara, who has a reputation for prosecuting public corruption cases and for investigating insider trading. In November, Mr. Bharara met with then President-elect Donald J. Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan and told reporters afterward that both Mr. Trump and Jeff Sessions, who is now the attorney general, had asked him about staying on, which the prosecutor said he expected to do.

But on Friday, Mr. Bharara was among federal prosecutors who received a call from Dana Boente, the acting deputy attorney general, instructing him to resign, according to a person familiar with the matter. As of Friday evening, though some of the prosecutors had publicly announced their resignations, Mr. Bharara had not. A spokesman for Mr. Bharara declined to comment.

Sarah Isgur Flores, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said in an email that all remaining holdover United States attorneys had been asked to resign, leaving their deputy United States attorneys, who are career officials, in place in an acting capacity.

Seems Trump abruptly decided to fire the U.S. Attorneys because Sean Hannity, the Fox News commentator who is a strong supporter of President Trump, said on his evening show that Mr. Trump needed to “purge” Obama holdovers from the federal government. Mr. Hannity portrayed them as “saboteurs” from the “deep state” who were leaking secrets to hurt Mr. Trump.

So on one hand you have Obama waiting till May to ease out a "batch" of previous U.S. Attorneys to avoid the disruption of the continuity of the offices and Trump who decided to fire the remaining U.S. Attorneys without much consideration of continuity but at the suggestion of Sean Hannity.

Trump supporters, keep telling yourself everything is ok...everything is normal (it isn't but maybe you can fool yourself).

[Alan Klein]

Voters for Trump wanted someone in command and decisive, who takes charge and doesn't put up with BS.  They were tired of Obama's feckless ways like drawing a red line in Syria then erasing it, etc.  Trump makes decisions and let's the chips fall where they may.  It gets him into trouble at times, but  a president who wants to lead should be decisive.  He can't have a checklist every time he has to make a decision.  He needs to go with his gut often.

[LesPalenik]

Voters for Trump wanted someone in command and decisive, who takes charge and doesn't put up with BS.  They were tired of Obama's feckless ways like drawing a red line in Syria then erasing it, etc.  Trump makes decisions and let's the chips fall where they may.  It gets him into trouble at times, but  a president who wants to lead should be decisive. He can't have a checklist every time he has to make a decision.  He needs to go with his gut often.

wisdom and competency would help, too