After being charged with lying to the FBI, the former national security adviser said he would cooperate with Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia probe.
Michael Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to the charge he misled FBI agents during a January 2017 interview after being asked about conversations with the Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
The next step: working with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office to go after his onetime confederates in Team Trump.
“My guilty plea and agreement and agreement to cooperate with the Special Counsel’s office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and our country,” said the disgraced retired three-star Army general in a statement after he left a District of Columbia courtroom. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
The cooperation of such a senior White House official with a criminal probe raises the stakes substantially for Trump, who has raged against an investigation he has insisted is baseless. And the next shoe to drop, legally, could fall on his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom Mueller has reportedly interviewed this month.
While he served as President Trump’s national security adviser, Flynn denied asking Ambassador Sergey Kislyak for Russia to “refrain from escalating in response to [American] sanctions” the Obama administration had imposed on Moscow for meddling in the 2016 presidential election and that he asked Kislyak to delay a United Nations Security Council vote on Israeli settlements.
If you can spare a few seconds, please sign the Change.Org -“impeach the Chump” petition. They ask for a donation of $3, but you can refuse and distribute the petition to friends and family.
The target is to reach 2 million signatures. I think we can do a little better than that.
When the senior Democrat can’t get behind impeaching the penultimate danger to Democracy and public safety in America…Maybe it is time for a change of leadership.
Chumph fans are congratulating themselves that the indictments of Manafort and Gates didn’t include collusion with the Russians…
However the Papadopoulos one did.
And there is no indication whatsoever that these are the only indictments Mueller will pursue, especially in light that this set of indictments did not include the Flynns, little Chumph, or the Chumph’s son in law…Not to mention Roger Stone.
Ergo, a lot more trees are going to fall in this diseased rotted forest of thugs and traitors.
Mueller would have not started chopping those diseased trees down unless he had an extremely strong triangulation and case against the biggest rotten stump in the forest – the Chumph himself, and just as importantly to take down Pence as well.
Trump fans upset about the indictment of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are hanging their hats on the fact that special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment did not mention his work on Trump’s campaign in the charges.
However, Republican strategist Rick Wilson taunted Trump’s supporters on Monday by explaining that the case against Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign is far from over — and that there are many more shoes yet to drop.
In particular, Wilson zeroed in on the revelation that former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos reached out to Russian officials to arrange meetings with the Trump campaign — and even to help coordinate the release of what he believed were emails from Hillary Clinton’s private server.
“We now have confessed collusion and a complex electronic trail from Pap to his fellow Trump campaign members,” Wilson wrote. “These are serious people running a serious investigation and you’re either a cooperating witness or a target.”
He then went on to mock the Trump administration’s legal strategy, while noting that Mueller has hired a team of top-notch investigators.
“That the intelligence community has a royal flush,” he joked. “Team Treason has a pair of twos on their best day.”
Wilson finished off his Twitter rant by warning Trump supporters that the worst was yet to come for their favorite politician.
“Clutch that fig-leaf of ‘no collusion’ tight because if you think this is the worst day for you, think again,” he concluded.
We haven’t even go to the part where one or more Chumph collaborators and fellow traitors has gone down yet!
I can’t think of any President who has been on the wrong side of so many issues, and who has created issues de jour to be on the wrong side of so consistently.
President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has declined to the lowest point of his presidency, and nearly half of voters want their vote in the 2018 midterms to be a message for more Democrats in Congress to check Trump and congressional Republicans, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Thirty eight percent of Americans say they approve of Trump’s job performance — down five points since September — while 58 percent disapprove.
Trump’s previous low in approval in the national NBC/WSJ poll was 39 percent back in May.
Trump Job Approval, Oct. 2017
“This is his worst showing of his young presidency so far,” said Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research Associates, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff and his team at Public Opinion Strategies.
The drop for Trump has come from independents (who shifted from 41 percent approval in September to 34 percent now), whites (who went from 51 percent to 47 percent) and whites without a college degree (from 58 percent to 51 percent).
“Are we starting to see the fraying of the Trump base … after this week of [Republican] infighting?” Yang asked.
Trump’s job approval rating of 38 percent is the lowest in modern times for a president at this stage of his presidency. The NBC/WSJ poll had George W. Bush at 88 percent, Barack Obama at 51 percent and Bill Clinton at 47 percent in the fall of their first year as president.
In this new survey, Trump also has seen a decline in his personal rating, with 36 percent viewing him positively and 54 percent negatively.
Back in September — when the political headlines were focused more on the president’s handling of the hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida, as well as Trump’s spending deal with congressional Democrats — his score was 39 percent positive, 49 percent negative.
But this current poll, conducted October 23-26, comes on the heels of a tumultuous two weeks in American politics, which included:
Trump charging that his predecessors didn’t make calls to the families of fallen U.S. soldiers;
Trump upsetting the family and friends of Sgt. La David T. Johnson, who was killed in Niger, by allegedly telling them that Johnson “must’ve known what he signed up for”;
Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., criticizing their party’s own president.
Additionally, the NBC/WSJ poll measures some of Trump’s recent actions over the past couple of months. The most popular: By a 48 percent to 27 percent margin, Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
And by a 42 percent-to-37 percent margin, they give a thumbs-up to the president’s handling of the economy.
Trump approval rating, Oct. 2017
But Trump is underwater on almost every other issue. Just 35 percent approve of his handling of his role as commander in chief; 34 percent approve of his handling of North Korea; 33 percent approve of his handling of the mass shooting in Las Vegas; and 30 percent approve of Trump’s handling of NFL players protesting during the National Anthem.
At the bottom: 29 percent agree with his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico; 27 percent approve of his handling of health care; and 24 percent approve of his handling of the Iran nuclear deal…
If the Chumph’s Republican collaborators in Congress were following the law and the Constitution. Of course, Republican white wingers really don’t give a damn about either.
Let’s hope that should there be a massive shift in elected officials in 2018, the the Democrats or Third Part folks who are elected don’t suffer any funcking delusions about “comity”, “bipartisanship”, or the fact the white wing gives a damn about America, and will lie, cheat, steal, and murder to maintain control.
The commander in chief’s calls to abridge freedoms of speech and the press represent attacks on the Constitution he swore to protect and defend.
Whereas Donald J. Trump stood beneath American flags on the steps of the United States Capitol on January 20, 2017, placed his hand on a Bible, and spoke these words:
I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States; and will,to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.
Whereas the Constitution of the United States reads in part, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Whereas Trump has responded to news coverage he dislikes by advocating that the freedom of the press be abridged by bureaucrats and legislators; and by calling the press a public enemy and a target of his “drain the swamp” agenda.
For example:
“It’s frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write and people should want to look into it.”
“Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked. Not fair to public!”
“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!”
“Why Isn’t the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!”
“Drain the Swamp should be changed to Drain the Sewer – it’s actually much worse than anyone ever thought, and it begins with the Fake News!”
“With all of its phony unnamed sources & highly slanted & even fraudulent reporting, #Fake News is DISTORTING DEMOCRACY in our country!”
“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. SICK!”
Whereas Trump has responded to protected speech he dislikes by calling for a punitive government response and issuing commands to private citizens like a king or tyrant.
For example:
“It is about time that Roger Goodell of the NFL is finally demanding that all players STAND for our great National Anthem-RESPECT OUR COUNTRY”
“Why is the NFL getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our Anthem, Flag and Country? Change tax law!”
“The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations. The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can’t kneel during our National Anthem!”
“The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!”
“If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect”
Whereas the aforementioned statements, individually or in aggregate, establish a clear pattern of failing to defend the Constitution and repeated attacks on its Bill of Rights.
Whereas it is a high crime to violate one’s sworn oath to the supreme law of the land.
Wherefore, Donald John Trump, through flagrant violations of the oath he took before God, country, and flag, warrants impeachment, trial, removal, and public disgrace.
Gettin’ hot in here! Larry Flynt, owner of Hustler Magazine and occasional political gadfly, has offered a $10 million reward for information resulting in the Impeachment of the Chumph.
Last time he did this during Bill CLinton’s impeachment, it wound up in ending the careers of about a half dozen Republicans, including Neut Gingrich and Bob Livingstone who were sucessive Speakers of the House who turned out to have sexual peccadilloes of their own.
This kind of money even boy toy Putin may finally release the “Pee Tape”!
Larry Flynt, the founder and publisher of Hustler magazine is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Fox Anchor Liz Claman, who broke the story, tweeted an image of an advert for the money. Flynt himself subsequently retweeted the story. Hustler had not replied to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The advert says: “Buried in Trump’s top-secret tax returns or in other records from his far-flung investments there may be a smoking gun.”
“The attempt to impeach Donald Trump will strike many as a sour grapes plot by Democrats to overturn a legitimate election,” it continues.
“But there is a strong case to be made that the last election was illegitimate in many ways—and that after nine tumultuous months in office, Trump has proven he’s dangerously unfit to exercise the extreme power accrued by our new ‘unitary executive.’”
The full page advertisement says that Trump “only” won the election thanks to the “quirks” of the electoral college, which it calls “a real anachronism today.” It accused Republicans of a “scorched-earth spree of gerrymandering” after the 2010 census.
The advert says that Trump’s missteps include “inciting violent civil strife with his racial dog whistling,” “gross nepotism,” and “sabotaging” the Paris accord on climate change.
“Most worrisome is that, long before a climate change apocalypse strikes, Trump might trigger a nuclear world war,” it adds.
“Impeachment would be a messy, contentious affair,” the ad concedes, “but the alternative—three more years of destabilizing dysfunction—is worse.”
Flynt also offered a similar reward in 1998, during the impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton. He has also shared clips from Hustler criticizing Trump, calling him a “buffoon” and a “narcissist,” and a piece calling on the Democrats to be “more than the party of no.”
Should Republicans stop blocking the Chumph Impeachment, or the 2018 Election, whichever comes first – there appear to be at least 4 Cases, if not 5 upon which the Chumph will be prosecuted.
The easiest one of those to make as a primary cause and case for impeachment, is Obstruction of Justice. The other crimes are hidden behind requiring information which is still classified, information from grand jury testimony, and information not available to the public gathered by Robert Mueller’s prosecutors.
There appears to be evidence upon which to charge the Chumph with these crimes –
Money Laundering,
Criminal Conspiracy
Treason
Obstruction of Justice
and possibly, a number of cases of Malfeasance in Office
It is unknown at this point what evidence, or what charges (if any) Mueller will pursue. But the case for impeachment, based on obstruction of justice has been laid out just using publically available information. The guys who did this are heavyweights –
Barry H. Berke is co-chair of the litigation department at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
(Kramer Levin) and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has represented
public officials, professionals and other clients in matters involving all aspects of white-collar
crime, including obstruction of justice. Noah Bookbinder is the Executive Director of Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Previously, Noah has served as Chief
Counsel for Criminal Justice for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and as a
corruption prosecutor in the United States Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section.
Ambassador (ret.) Norman L. Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was the chief
White House ethics lawyer from 2009 to 2011 and before that, defended obstruction and other
criminal cases for almost two decades in a D.C. law firm specializing in white-collar matters. He
is the chair and co-founder of CREW.
From their introduction of a case developed for Brookings Institute –
There are significant questions as to whether President Trump obstructed justice. We do not yet know all the relevant facts, and any final determination must await further investigation, including by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. But the public record contains substantial evidence that President Trump attempted to impede the investigations of Michael Flynn and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, including by firing FBI Director James Comey. There is also a question as to whether President Trump conspired to obstruct justice with senior members of his administration although the public facts regarding conspiracy are less well developed.Attempts to stop an investigation represent a common form of obstruction. Demanding the loyalty of an individual involved in an investigation, requesting that individual’s help to end the investigation, and then ultimately firing that person to accomplish that goal are the type of acts that have frequently resulted in obstruction convictions, as we detail. In addition, to the extent conduct could be characterized as threatening, intimidating, or corruptly persuading witnesses, that too
may provide additional grounds for obstruction charges. While those defending the president may claim that expressing a “hope” that an investigation will end is too vague to constitute obstruction, we show that such language is sufficient to do so. In that regard, it is material that former FBI Director James Comey interpreted the president’s “hope” that he would drop the investigation into Flynn as an instruction to drop the case. That Comey ignored that instruction is beside the point under applicable law. We also note that potentially misleading conduct and possible cover-up attempts could serve as further evidence of obstruction. Here, such actions may include fabricating an initial justification for firing Comey, directing Donald Trump Jr.’s inaccurate statements about the purpose of his meeting with a Russian lawyer during the president’s campaign, tweeting that Comey “better hope there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations,” despite having
“no idea” whether such tapes existed, and repeatedly denouncing the validity of the investigations…
Seems the FBI has been investigating the Chump crew for a while. FBI obtained at least two judicial warrants to wiretap Paul Manafort starting back in 2015.
It now appears Mueller has his second target in the bag, with Michael Flynn already having been assigned a post and blindfold in front of the firing squad.
This one may move quickly, as Mueller has already started issuing subpoenas for the involved.
Two stories that popped overnight suggest that special counsel Robert Mueller is aggressively pursuing Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Trump’s campaign.
— CNN reports that “U.S. investigators wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court orders before and after the election”: “The government snooping continued into early this year, including a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Donald Trump. Some of the intelligence collected includes communications that sparked concerns among investigators that Manafort had encouraged the Russians to help with the campaign, according to three sources familiar with the investigation …
“A secret order authorized by the court that handles the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) began after Manafort became the subject of an FBI investigation that began in 2014,” per Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz and Pamela Brown. “It centered on work done by a group of Washington consulting firms for Ukraine’s former ruling party … The surveillance was discontinued at some point last year for lack of evidence … The FBI then restarted the surveillance after obtaining a new FISA warrant that extended at least into early this year. … Sources say the second warrant was part of the FBI’s efforts to investigate ties between Trump campaign associates and suspected Russian operatives. Such warrants require the approval of top Justice Department and FBI officials, and the FBI must provide the court with information showing suspicion that the subject of the warrant may be acting as an agent of a foreign power.”
— The CNN story, parts of which were subsequently confirmed by CBS News, raises a host of fresh questions. Among them:
Was Trump himself picked up on any of the surveillance? CNN says that’s “unclear.” But it’s been widely reported that Manafort and Trump continued to talk after the inauguration and after it was reported that Manafort was under FBI investigation.
When exactly did the second FISA warrant start? The reporters couldn’t figure that out.
What did FBI agents find when, as part of the FISA warrant, they conducted a search of a storage facility belonging to Manafort earlier this year?
Hang ’em High! Evidence to Impeach and convict Pence is contained it letters now in Mueller’s possession.
Turns out, if the Chumph tries to “Pardon” his way out of this – he could be facing criminal charges in up to 29 states individually. The States don’t have he power to Impeach, but they sure as hell have the power to convict on a wide variety of crimes the Chumph is believed to have committed. If the Chumph is stupid enough to stop Mueller’s investigation – he is looking at a political and legal shitstorm of unprecedented proportions.
Thing is, nobody believe he isn’t stupid enough to do it.
Donald Trump’s odds of remaining in office took a severe hit today when it was revealed that there were two different versions of the letter announcing the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and that Special Counsel Robert Mueller now has both letters. The first, unreleased letter paints Trump as being guilty of obstruction of justice among other crimes. But the story has also swallowed up Mike Pence, to the point that at least two legal experts think Pence is now completely screwed.
It was the New York Times that broke the story of the first Comey firing letter, written by Trump and Stephen Miller, which was ultimately rejected by the White House counsel for exposing them to legal liability (link). But four words casually tossed into the seventh paragraph of that article may be the real story: “Vice President Mike Pence.” It confirms that Pence knew of the contents of the first letter, and proceeded to help cover it up. He even went on television and lied about the second letter, from Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, having been the basis for the firing.
Why does this matter? According to Fordham Law Professor Jed Shugerman, who appeared on-air on MSNBC on Friday night, it implicates Mike Pence on multiple felonies. One is conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, as Pence helped Trump to sabotage the Russia investigation by firing Comey. Another is misprision of a felony, a legal term of having knowledge of a felony and not reporting it, as Pence kept knowledge of Trump’s true intentions to himself. Shugerman points out that Richard Nixon was about to be impeached for obstruction when he resigned, and that Pence is now in severe jeopardy himself. He’s not the only legal expert who thinks Pence is completely screwed over this.
Respected Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe posted on Twitter that he also believes Mike Pence has committed misprision of a felony, while adding that “The VP appears to me to be in what lawyers have been known to call deep doo-doo.”
By the Constitution, a President’s pardoning power only extends to Federal Crimes…Not State crimes.
The Chumpshit’s veiled threat to pardon co-conspirators and criminal family members just got checked. Meaning the treasonous criminal Chumphshit can’t bribe his accomplices to keep their mouths shut in exchange for a pardon from him.
The initial charges that will bring down the Chumphshit will be filed in State Courts – specifically New York. Meaning the only legal escape for Manafort and other Chumphshit Cartel members will be through their legal defense. The New York AG who sucessflly prosecuted the Chumphshit in a Civil Case on his “Trump University” scam adds to an already powerful and skilled investigation team which now includes the top IRS people on financial fraud. Not to mention that there are likely some Patriotic volunteers who specialize in tracking down corporate criminals like the Chumphshit through international financial channels who can open doors the Feds normally can’t…
It appears Mueller is tightening the noose first by taking down the collaborators.
Federal rules and Justice Department policy clearly provide for such cooperation and would even allow Mueller to share confidential grand jury information with Schneiderman’s office with court approval. Beyond that, there is always a great deal of information not covered by grand jury secrecy that could be freely shared. But although certainly not unheard of, federal and state prosecutors cooperating in an investigation is relatively unusual, at least in a white-collar case.
It’s unlikely that Mueller needs Schneiderman to charge crimes that Mueller otherwise couldn’t reach. Given the breadth of federal white-collar statutes, if Manafort’s financial dealings violated New York state law, they almost certainly could be charged under federal law as well. Federal charges such as mail and wire fraud, money laundering and RICO allow federal prosecutors to reach even transactions that took place entirely within one state.
The New York attorney general’s office is very highly regarded and has a history of bringing complex financial crime cases. It has been reported that Schneiderman’s office was already investigating Manafort for possible crimes related to his business dealings in New York. But the bottom line is that anything state prosecutors might be looking at, Mueller could also investigate on his own if he chose to do so. So why would Mueller join forces with Schneiderman?
One obvious reason is to pool resources. If Schneiderman’s office has already done work relevant to Mueller’s investigation, it makes sense to share that information rather than unearth it a second time. It’s also important for Mueller’s office to have access to things such as witness statements and testimony that the New York investigators may have already obtained.
But as others have noted, the second possible reason also explains why this news is so significant: It cuts the legs out from under any possible attempt by President Trump to use his pardon power to thwart the investigation.
Trump’s recent pardon of former Maricopa County (Ariz.) sheriff Joe Arpaio raised concerns that it might be seen as a signal to potential witnesses against him. They could refuse to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation and feel confident that Trump would pardon them if they ran into any legal trouble.
But the presidential pardon power extends only to federal crimes. Trump can’t do anything about New York state charges, and he can’t fire Schneiderman. The possibility of serious state charges gives Mueller’s team critical potential leverage that the pardon power threatened to take away…
Btx3's Blog 