Mueller closing in on Trump in Russian probe

Oh, it's coming, and you know it. The Watergate matter took two years. Have patience.

Speaking of Flynn, Trump said a while back, "General Flynn is a wonderful man," Trump said days after he fired his national security adviser. "I think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the media, as I call it, the fake media, in many cases. And I think it is really a sad thing that he was treated so badly."

It's not going to be easy for Trump or the White House to suddenly condemn Flynn as a bad guy who kept lots of stuff from the President and his staff. Why did Trump go out of his way to praise Flynn even after he had been fired and was clearly causing the White House problems as it tried to build some kind of momentum? Simple. Because Flynn was one of Trump's most loyal backers, going all the way back to the start of the campaign.

The Washington Post reports, "President Trump’s legal team plans to cast former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn as a liar seeking to protect himself if he accuses the president or his senior aides of any wrongdoing, according to three people familiar with the strategy.

"The approach would mark a sharp break from Trump’s previously sympathetic posture toward Flynn, whom he called a “wonderful man” when Flynn was ousted from the White House in February. Earlier this month, the president did not rule out a possible pardon for Flynn, who is cooperating with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election."

So much for loyalty.

Trump supporters have said a hundred times that Trump respects loyalty and he will go out of his way to defend people who have been loyal to him.

Well, not so much, I guess.

There is a reason why Trump is turning on Flynn. Trump is scared to death.

Moreover, Trump hates his job. He has spent one third of his Presidency at one of his golf courses.

 

One of most remarkable stories of 2017 was the extent to which President Donald Trump was prevented from executing his many pledges—both on the campaign trail and in office—to violate the law. As predicted, courts, the press, the bureaucracy, civil society, and even Congress were aggressive and successful in stopping or deterring Trump from acting unlawfully.*


The biggest concern lies in threats to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,” and related matters. The worry is that Trump or his senior associates may have engaged in law-breaking or some form of electoral corruption, and could get away with it. The Mueller investigation involves the executive branch investigating itself, including the president. Trump a few days ago claimed the “absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department.” (He also said many times in the interview that he thought Mueller would treat him fairly.)

We don’t yet know whether Trump acted unlawfully or wrongfully, or how close (if at all) Mueller will get to him, his business or his family. But Mueller’s probe appears to be “fast approaching a critical crossroads.” This year, we will find out whether Mueller has damaging goods on the president. Let’s assume that the investigation goes in a direction that Trump is inclined to shut down. I believe that what we learned in 2017 should give us confidence in 2018 that Trump will not be able to terminate the Mueller investigation.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/president-cant-kill-mueller-investigation

 

Good Lord, where to begin. The Trump administration is unraveling before our eyes.

Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign manager met with Russian operatives at Trump's home in New York, Trump Tower, to obtain dirt on the Clinton campaign. Dirt the Russians claimed they had. The meeting took place on June 9, 2016.

In a book written by Michael Wolff, Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist and fired senior advisor, stated that the meeting was both "treasonous and unpatriotic."

"The three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor -- with no lawyers. They didn't have any lawyers," Bannon said, according to the Guardian. "Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad s***, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately."

Bannon had a lot more to say. His statements could fill a book ... literally. Let us move on to Trump's reaction and the repercussions of Bannon's statements.

Despite the fact that Trump owes his election victory to the strategies cooked up by Bannon, despite Trump's warm praise of Bannon with statements like these, "I want to thank Steve Bannon for his service. He came to the campaign during my run against Crooked Hillary Clinton - it was great!, Steve Bannon will be a tough and smart new voice at @BreitbartNews...maybe even better than ever before. Fake News needs the competition!" often referring to Bannon as a friend, Trump now turned on his friend. This is completely understandable if you know Trump.

"Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind," Trump said. "Now that he is on his own, Steve is learning that winning isn't as easy as I make it look. Steve had very little to do with our historic victory, which was delivered by the forgotten men and women of this country," added the President.

Bannon also reportedly told Wolff that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's potential ties to Russia is centered on money laundering, saying that the White House is "sitting on a beach trying to stop a Category Five" hurricane.

That is Trump's greatest fear. That Mueller will obey the old axiom, "follow the money."

For some time now Trump and his associates have been attacking Trump's own party. The "drain the swamp" strategy is aimed at RINO's, a euphemism for the Republican leadership.

Now Trump's base is attacking itself. Bannon is the self-proclaimed leader of the alt-right movement. He is a strong supporter of white nationalism and the chief strategist of the MAGA strategy. That is the very essence of Trump's base. Bannnon's ideologies are the reasons Trump is so popular with his base.

Now his supporters have a difficult choice, Trump or Trump's principles. If they turn on Bannon like Trump did, they are rejecting all the principles they hold dear, "drain the swamp," MAGA, and nationalism.

Then there is another very important issue. In the book by Wolff, Bannon brought up several contentious points of which Congress has been investigating for a year or more with their secret hearings with secret testimonies and secret documents.

When are the Republican committees going to release their findings concerning the Republican President?

Many are weary of Republicans telling us there is no evidence, a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There is so much more to all of this. If you are interested in learning more, you can consult these sites.

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/03/politics/bannon-wolff-fire-and-fury/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/us/politics/trump-bannon.html?_r=0

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...m-says-ex-chief-strategist-lost-his-mind.html

 

Want to hear the latest joke? This is from the New York Times.

President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, sued the special counsel on Wednesday and asked a federal court to narrow his authority, escalating Republican efforts to discredit an investigation that has stretched longer than the White House expected.

The unusual move comes as Mr. Trump tries to portray the investigation as a politically motivated witch hunt that has cast a dark cloud over his administration and, in his view, the country.

The president said last week that he hoped the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, would treat him fairly. Mr. Trump’s lawyers have advised against directly criticizing Mr. Mueller, a Republican former F.B.I. director who is regarded as one of the premier law enforcement officials of his time. But with four former Trump campaign aides facing charges and no end to the investigation in sight, some of Mr. Trump’s allies have stepped up their attacks.

Nunes continues to investigate those who have evidence of Trump's collaboration rather than investigating Trump's collaboration with a hostile foreign power. I wonder if he realizes how foolish he looks. I doubt it.

 

What's that old saying: "Much ado about nothing". That's all that the TDS crowd can spew - many words to little effect -

Here we are nearing the end of Presidents first year in office and he has been a damned miracle worker with all of his accomplishments - and this is only the first year.

I remember a story heard someplace about a kid who was afraid of the toe eating turtles living under his bed - that's the left wingers - afraid that Trump will eat their toes.

I love President Trump!

 

This is surreal. The President is engaging in extortion.

As special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s inquiry into Trump’s actions appears to be reaching a critical point. Trump and his allies are proposing a bargain, with a not-so-subtle message to Democrats: “If you don’t want your people to be investigated, remain quiet as we shut down the congressional investigations and undercut the special counsel. If my people are going to be investigated, then so will yours.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...ba379b809ab_story.html?utm_term=.990bf6c958f2

Trump is so incompetent he doesn't know that it is not the Democrats who are investigating him. It is the Republicans. Four Republican committees are investigating him. The Republican-controlled DOJ is investigating him. Trump appointee to the FBI, Chris Wray, is a Republican. The special prosecutor, Mueller, is a Republican.

I don't know if this is a lack of intelligence or a mental problem, but there is something seriously wrong with Trump.

Trump's efforts to derail this investigation are rather humorous.

And pathetic. Again, we have to ask ourselves, is there any reason why we should take him seriously?

 

There's nothing more desperate and delusional than the spew you post daily. "Hoping and wishing and winging a prayer" that somehow Mueller will bring you to a climax is most amusing 24/7.
Happy trails and happy endings to you!

The Deep State has been investigating Trump since his nomination. We are going on 18 months here.

Since July 2016, the FBI has been investigating the Russian government’s attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election, including whether President Donald Trump’s campaign associates were involved in those efforts.

https://www.factcheck.org/2017/06/timeline-russia-investigation/

What's even more humorous is that the Skankipotimus's ties to Russia run much deeper than anything Trump. Uranium One and the paid dossier speak for themselves. Careful what you wish for. Careful with that ax Eugene. .

 

Please don't say there is no evidence. After nearly a full year of investigations by four Republican Congressional committees, it is quite clear that they are dragging their feet in their investigation of a Republican President. Hours of secret testimony and countless secret documents from countless secret hearings remain secret. When Republicans say there is no evidence, in a matter of speaking, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Indeed, in the Republican House the two investigating committees tasked with looking into alleged connections between Russia and Trump's campaign staff have morphed into investigating the investigators. The Republican House committees, judiciary and intelligence, are more interested in investigating those who came up with evidence rather than the evidence itself. For example, instead of examining the evidence produced by the FBI and Mueller, the House committees are examining the a FBI and Mueller. I know that sounds crazy, but that is what the pro-Trump House is doing. Representatives like Nunes, Meadows, and Jordan have forgotten that they represent the people, not Donald J. Trump.

With the Republicans reluctant to disclose their findings in the matter of the Republican President we are just going to have wait until Mueller issues his report.

 

You just haven't been keeping up with your progressive marching orders. We've been told by fictional writers that Trump never really wanted to be President. And the leftoids have been chirping this all week. Did you miss the MSM dog whistle? Here boy, time for your Gravy Train! Now be a good little proletariat and come to chow! Trump OBVIOUSLY colluded with the Rooskies to lose the election. I wonder how much he paid them for that service rendered? Shhhh........follow the money!

 

The Hill reports, "-FEINSTEIN POSTS FUSION GPS TESTIMONY: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Tuesday posted the entire transcript of the closed-door testimony that Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson made to the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into Russian election interference. Fusion GPS last week demanded that the full transcript be released, sparking a fight with Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) over who was standing in the way of the document being released.

"--GRASSLEY BLASTS RELEASE: A spokesman for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday blasted Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) release of the transcribed interview with the co-founder of the firm behind a controversial dossier on the Trump campaign's ties to Russia."

--AMONG THE REVELATIONS from the testimony is that Simpson told Senate investigators in August that the FBI had "other intelligence" backing up claims in the dossier and that law enforcement officials had already been investigating the president's team before the dossier was completed. In more than 300 pages of testimony released Tuesday Simpson told investigators that the former spy who compiled the dossier told him that the FBI had an informant in the Trump campaign.

"Essentially what [former MI6 agent Christopher Steele] told me was they had other intelligence about this matter from an internal Trump campaign source and that -- that they -- my understanding was that they believed Chris at this point -- that they believed Chris's information might be credible because they had other intelligence that indicated the same thing and one of those pieces of intelligence was a human source from inside the Trump organization," Simpson said.

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecu...security-feinstein-shocks-by-releasing-fusion

Simpson also said Steele initiated communication with the FBI in July 2016 because he feared that the Presidential candidate could be blackmailed on the basis of the information he had.

“He said we should tell the FBI, it's a national security issue." Simpson said he recalled telling Steele he was unsure who to relay the information to at the FBI. “[H]e said don't worry about that, I know the perfect person, I have a contact there, they'll listen to me, they know who I am, I'll take care of it,” Simpson said.

Read Fusion GPS Trump dossier interview full transcript

 

The Feinstein release comes on the heels of another revelation. Trump could sit down with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigators as soon as the next few weeks, though any cooperation from the President is being carefully negotiated right now. No doubt Mueller will insist on a one-on-one setting, not written questions and answers or affidavits that would be self-serving where Trump is concerned and totally worthless.

Trump has said he is eager to sit down with Mueller's team in an effort to clear his name. However, Trump is also a strong believer in "truthful hyperbole" as a tactic, and he has a tenuous relationship with the truth. Besides, his lawyers are concerned about his big mouth. He already has admitted to collaboration with the Russians and obstruction of justice.

Below are a few burning questions for Trump courtesy of the Washington Post.

1. Why did you craft Donald Trump Jr.'s misleading response on the meeting with the Russian lawyer?

2. You told NBC News's Lester Holt, “When I decided to [fire FBI Director James B. Comey], I said to myself, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.’” Did you mean that you fired Comey to impact the investigation? And if not, why did you mention Russia while talking about your decision to fire Comey?

3. Have you done anything official for the purpose of protecting yourself from this investigation?

4. Did you tell Flynn what to say to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about President Barack Obama's sanctions?

5. Did you know Flynn had lied to the FBI when you fired him? And did you ask Comey to take it easy on Flynn?

6. Did you ever direct anybody in your campaign to reach out to Russia, or did you hear about anybody doing such a thing?

 

Once again, it is easy to see why Trump will not hold a full blown press conference with the White House press corps in the press room, something Sarah Sanders does routinely every week. Trump hasn't held a press conference since February.

Today, he held an abbreviated joint news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in the White House East Room. After their prepared speeches which took up most of the conference, there was a brief question period for the two officials. They were asked some softball questions from mostly friendly reporters who didn't want to create controversy, enabling both to make speeches to serve as answers to questions.

One intriguing question was allowed. Trump launched into a monologue of lies, re-lived the Election of 2016 for the umpteenth time, and refused to answer the question.

Roberts: "Are you open to meeting with (special counsel Robert Mueller)? Would you be willing to meet with him without condition? Or would you demand that a strict set of parameters be placed around any encounter between you and the special counsel?"

Trump: "Well, again John, there has been no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians or Trump and Russians. No collusion. When I watch you interviewing all the people leaving their committees, I mean, the Democrats are all running for office, trying to say this that -- but bottom line, they all say there's no collusion. And there is no collusion.

"And when you talk about interviews, Hillary Clinton had an interview, where she wasn't sworn in, she wasn't given the oath, they didn't take notes, they didn't record and it was done on the 4th of July weekend. That's perhaps ridiculous and a lot of people looked upon that as being a very serious breach and it really was.

"But again I'll speak to attorneys -- I can only say this, there was absolutely no collusion. Everybody knows it. Every committee -- I've been in office now for 11 months. For 11 months, they've had this phony cloud over this administration, over our government. And it has hurt our government. It does hurt our government. It's a Democrat hoax that was brought up as an excuse for losing an election that frankly the Democrats should have won because they have such a tremendous advantage in the electoral college.

"So it was brought up for that reason. But it has been determined that there is no collusion and by virtually everybody. So we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. I mean certainly we'll see what happens -- when they have no collusion and nobody's found any collusion at any level it seems unlikely that you'd even have an interview."

Minutes later he walked out of the room.

This was the President speaking. It was god awful embarrassing.

So was this. "In November, we started delivering the first F-52s and F-35 fighter jets," Trump said. There is no such as a F-52. The order was for 52 F-35's.

 

Trump not only is confused about FISA, what a wall is, his position on the Dreamers, and why he turned down a perfectly good bipartisan deal to keep the lights on, he simply cannot make up his mind on North Korea.

He has moved from "fire and fury" and "little rocket man" to "I [or I'd] probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un,” Today it is "We’re playing a very, very hard game of poker and you don’t want to reveal your hand," Trump said from the Oval Office when asked if he was considering a military strike against the rogue state.

Then he threw in this new wrinkle. "Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea," Trump said. "What China is helping us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing."

Where did that come from? Well, Mueller is closing in on him with the Russian probe. Two of his closest associates have been indicted. Two others -- one his former NSA -- is turning states evidence. On the Trump-friendly House Intelligence Committee, Republicans and Democrats joined forces to issue Steve Bannon a subpoena on the spot to compel his testimony. Bannon has also made a deal with the special prosecutor. He will cooperate with Mueller in an interview to avoid appearing before a grand jury.

In short, Trump is forced to get tough on Russia. He probably called his good buddy, Vlad Putin, to let him know what his situation is. Putin is a pretty savvy guy. No doubt he understood.

Trump's position is further confused by the fact that North and South Korea are shutting him out. They are practicing Olympics diplomacy and it is working well. The problem for Trump is, negotiations between the two Korea's hamstrings him. He can hardly unleash a preemptive strike against North Korea as long as the two sides are talking. Nor can he unleash such a strike without South Korea's permission, not likely while they are talking.

Kim will never give up his nukes or his missiles. To him, it is a matter of survival. As I said nine months ago, Americans may have to get used to the idea of a nuclear capable North Korea.

It is possible Kim might have just put one over on Trump.

 

LOL

 

LOL

 

For those wondering why Trump collaborated with the Russian government during the 2016 election campaign, it has to do with money laundering. Many observers feel Putin was extorting Trump and the basis of that extortion is many laundering. That makes Trump very vulnerable and it is a serious national security issue.

Donald Trump had links to the Russian mafia during his time as a real estate developer according to the founder of a firm behind an infamous dossier alleging ties between the now-president and Russia.

Glenn Simpson, whose firm Fusion GPS was hired to investigate the president, told the House Intelligence Committee in November that Trump had connections to Italian and Russian organized crime, according to a transcript released Thursday.

http://www.newsweek.com/trump-russian-italian-mafia-fusion-785524

 

OMG - will these wet dreams ever end -

I understand the left enjoys these bed time fairy tails - but the repetition is becoming boring!

Howe about the new revelations that condemn the Democrats - I wonder when it will be leaked