Russiagate

[normiss 801]

Reports are coming out that Manafort has flipped, made a bail agreement.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

normiss

Reports are coming out that Manafort has flipped, made a bail agreement.

11.7 million for bail. On the surface, it would appear to be sufficient to keep him from taking off.

BUT...
It's real estate. Property. If he jumped bail and fled the country, he'd likely end up abandoning them anyway.

Hmmmmm...

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[normiss 801]

MSNBC: Bob Mueller made a deal with Michael Flynn
CNN: Bob Mueller made a deal with Michael Flynn

Fox News: There are so many ways to cook with cranberries this holiday season...

Suddenly wondering if the next target is Jr, Jared, or Trumpy himself....hmmmm

[normiss 801]

From ABC News: Retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn has promised “full cooperation” in the special counsel’s Russia investigation and, according to a confidant, is prepared to testify that Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians, initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria.

Much, much faster than Watergate.

[billvon 2,995]

From the same story -

"Flynn felt abandoned by Trump in recent weeks, and told friends about the decision to make the plea deal within the last 24 hours as he grew increasingly concerned about crippling legal costs he would face if he continued to contest the charges."

Looks like Trump's policy of throwing loyal supporters under the bus at the first sign of trouble might be backfiring a bit.

So we are up to two arrests and two guilty pleas, both involving lying to the FBI about working with the Russians.

[yoink 321]

*Waits for Tump supporters to use one / all of the following:

1 - He's just bitter and angry that Trump ditched him because he's a loser. He's making it up.

2 - CNN / NYT are paying him to say this. It's a leftist conspiracy.

3 - There's no evidence he's going to say this. It's just more Fake News.

4 - He actually did it under Obama's presidency first. And Hillary said she would have him do it.

5 - It has nothing to do with Trump. Nothing. He didn't know anything about it.

6 - It didn't change anything so it's not illegal.

[ryoder 1,590]

I keep thinking that when they start making film adaptations of the Russiagate story, this will be the perfect theme song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5Xv7QqXiM

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[jakee 1,497]

normiss

From ABC News: Retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn has promised “full cooperation” in the special counsel’s Russia investigation and, according to a confidant, is prepared to testify that Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians, initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria.

This nothingburger is surprisingly filling.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[normiss 801]

With multiple patties no less!

[billvon 2,995]

>4 - He actually did it under Obama's presidency first. And Hillary said she would have him do it.
>5 - It has nothing to do with Trump. Nothing. He didn't know anything about it.

You nailed it! The White House statement:

"Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI."

Michael who?

[normiss 801]

“He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

[billvon 2,995]

James Comey's take on this:

"But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

The drip drip drip has turned into a pretty good stream.

[normiss 801]

General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit.

Apparently circumstances now do just that.

[kallend 2,027]

Marc Rush has been very quiet recently.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 2,995]

>Marc Rush has been very quiet recently.

Good for him for having that level of self-awareness. I think even the staunchest Trump supporters are starting to feel a little ashamed of what they've helped create.

I have a longtime friend of mine who is also a big Trump supporter who has gone "off grid" - he no longer participates in social media, forums, even much email because everything is "too political." I think the underlying reason is that he doesn't want to witness the downward slide in the administration that's taking place.

[GeorgiaDon 362]

The plot thickens:
"Sources: Kushner was the "very senior" transition member who directed Flynn to contact the Russian ambassador"

Better get out that pardon pen!

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[billvon 2,995]

Looks like Kushner is going to be the next person making a deal with Mueller to reduce his sentence:
=================================
Kushner Is Said to Have Ordered Flynn to Contact Russia

Now that the retired general has pleaded guilty, the president's son-in-law could be one of the next dominoes to fall.
by Eli Lake, Bloomberg
December 1, 2017, 10:09 AM PST

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn's guilty plea Friday for lying to the FBI is alarming news for Donald Trump. But the first person it's likely to jeopardize will be the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Two former officials with the Trump transition team who worked closely with Flynn say that during the last days of the Obama administration, the retired general was instructed [by Kushner] to contact foreign ambassadors and foreign ministers of countries on the U.N. Security Council, ahead of a vote condemning Israeli settlements. Flynn was told to try to get them to delay that vote until after Barack Obama had left office, or oppose the resolution altogether.
========================================

[kallend 2,027]

Kushner, or Trump?

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Michael Flynn, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, is prepared to testify that Trump directed him to make contact with Russians when he was a presidential candidate, ABC News reported on Friday."

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[kallend 2,027]

KARMA!

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[ryoder 1,590]

kallend

KARMA!

That was then; This was today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgsTSwyNtpM

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[jakee 1,497]

An American journalist on morning radio over here speculated that if members of Trump’s team continued to meet with Russian officials to discuss the prospect of a Trump administration dropping sanctions after they were informed of Russian hacking of their opponents it could be viewed as a quid pro quo arrangement, opening up conspiracy charges of aiding and abetting cyber crimes.

Fun times!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[normiss 801]

So Trump knew Flynn lied to the FBI before firing him, then asked Comey to take it easy on Flynn, then fired Comey.
That sequence of events, now confirmed by Trump himself.
Obstruction AND collusion.

[normiss 801]

Trump, via Twitter, admitted to obstruction of justice today.
That, with KT McFarlands emails, should guarantee the end of the Trump Presidency.
I'm seriously hoping Pence is proven involved too.
I think.

[billvon 2,995]

>Trump, via Twitter, admitted to obstruction of justice today.

No, no, not at all. Didn't you hear? His LAWYER wrote that tweet. That's one of the first things you learn in law school - when things get rough, send out public admissions of your client's guilt.

Looks like they are laying the grounds for "Trump never said any of this stuff. How do you know he really tweeted that, and it wasn't from (latest guy we threw under the bus?)"

[AlanS 1]

DJL

***Nick Harding interview on NPR's Fresh Air.

Interesting discussion about Trump and Russia with some new information I've not seen before. This journalist seems very credible to me.

https://www.npr.org/2017/11/21/565654507/journalist-investigating-trump-and-russia-says-full-picture-is-one-of-collusion

One interesting point is while Russia's attempt to influence this election might have tactically been a success, since they got the candidate they wanted, it has been a strategic failure, since sanctions have not been removed.

The key question is now that the truth is coming out about Russia's attempt to influence elections, will they keep trying it.

This is the most disturbing part about this story. I see republicans and democrats so intent on attacking each other that they forget their is a larger enemy looming in the shadows.

I think they got just the result they were looking for which is to sow confusion and create infighting and thereby sully our reputation on the international scene. We have half the country trying to ban people because of their religion, that's enough for terrorist recruiters to work with.

Russia did get the result they were looking for tactically, and they will continue to sow divisions and chaos unless we in the west (republican, democrat, conservative, centrist and liberal) don't wise up and see the bigger threat. They can inflict deeper wounds to our democracy in the future.

I'm most concerned with how deeply Russian linked hacker got into our election computers. The got the full voter rolls in more than half the states and if they wanted could have corrupted them just before the elections. This is a story that isn't getting the attention it deserves!

We need to know the full truth how Trump interacted with Russia and all the links, etc. But just as important we need to understand the process and machinery Putin uses tried to influence elections in democratic countries, to be inoculated from it in the future.

I personally feel it would be better for this country for trump to lose the next election fair and square to a centrist non-controversial candidate by an informed electorate, rather than have this investigation the result in a divisive impeachment of the president.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-would-impeach-trump-at-our-peril/2017/09/25/71c6f4aa-a21f-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.42849fc79e02

If we proceed down an impeachment path while not bother fixing the flaws in our election systems, we are open to more hacking on election night in the future to the point where hacking could cause the result of a divisive campaign to truly be in doubt.

This should be ringing alarm bells, but I get the sense that republicans and democrats are so intent in sticking it to each other that they don't see the bigger threat to all of us.