Athos_131 · 10671
0 Members and 4 Guests are viewing this topic.
How did this happen? How did the Republican Party descend from the moral heights of Ronald Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” to this apologist sewer filled with the weak trying to reassure the weaker that weakness is a virtue?For the first time in American history we have meticulously detailed evidence that a hostile foreign power attempted to influence the choice of an American commander in chief, and the collective Republican response is apparently, “Our side won, move on.”The beating heart of America is courage. This is the nation born of the courage of a few who made the impossible appear inevitable. The 75th anniversary of D-Day is upon us, and yet Republicans don’t seem capable of summoning some mix of courage and decency to put country over their next primary. Courage is not standing up to Donald Trump. Courage is getting out of the boat when the man in front of you was just shot. That’s the legacy these Republicans are squandering and it should be called out for what it is: shameful.The congressmen and senators of the party whose unofficial slogan is now “Lock her/him up” have a constitutional duty to defend our country and they are failing. It’s not an elective they are auditing for no credit at night school, it’s a sworn oath:"I, ______, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”It baffles me that any member of Congress or senator can read the Mueller Report, describing how the Russians referred to their campaign to help elect Donald Trump as “information warfare,” and not respond as if America was under attack. The modern Republican Party that has pushed the Pentagon budget to over $700 billion a year, that supports American military personnel in over 150 countries, those same Republicans have suddenly decided that Lenin’s “useful idiots” are their new role models.Why? These are not stupid men and women, though more than a few do a fair imitation. Each will have their own justifications that amount to a personal Faustian bargain predicated on the self-delusion that some particular issue or cause is more important than their oath of office. But equally powerful will be the reinforcing group mentality that Rep. Justin Amash describes:“My colleagues tell me all the time—in fact, you wouldn’t believe how many phone conversations I’ve had, or conversations in person with colleagues... A lot of them think I’m right about the Mueller Report. And they just won’t say it. A lot of Republicans. What they’ll say to me is, Justin, you know, going out publicly with that, you know the Democrats will never support you. You know that they’re hypocrites on this stuff. And I say, you know, some of them are and some of them aren’t. It doesn’t matter to me. Because you have to look at what you’re doing first. You have to care about what you’re doing. If you have a society where all we care about is that the other side is bad, and therefore we don’t have to do the right thing, that society will break down, and you will have no liberty. I refuse to be a part of that.”At the heart of the Trump presidency is a lie: almost every Republican elected official in Washington knows Donald Trump is unfit to be president. They knew it on Nov. 9, 2016, at 7 p.m., when they were planning on how to rebuild the party from the disaster of a nominating a know-nothing racist for president; and they knew it at midnight, when they were all frantically calling the oddballs and kooks Trump had assembled into a campaign to lavishly praise their brilliance.The Republican Party stood by a candidate who ran on a religious test to enter the United States. They knew it was unconstitutional and indecent, but they were silent. All through 2016 I had conversations with what passes for leadership in the Republican Party on the need to stand up to Trump. Most of their responses went like this: “Trump is a disaster and a disgrace. But we have to let him lose on his own. If we, the Establishment, put our thumbs on the scale, when he loses it will be our fault and not the fault of his racism, the alt-right, those idiots at Breitbart. We will have elected Hillary Clinton. We have to let him lose and rebuild.”To which I always responded, “But what if he wins?” Truth was, though, I didn’t think he would win, and I wasn’t great at making the case for something I didn’t believe. What these Republican leaders were saying wasn’t crazy. It just proved to be wrong. And in that miscalculation began the surrender of any sense of self to Donald Trump. So now the nation is in full possession of the reality that Russians—Russians, for cryin’ out loud—worked on the same side as every Republican volunteer, donor, elected official and Trump voter. When you learn that the bank you borrowed money from was actually owned by a drug cartel, should your first reaction be, “Well, we got a good interest rate”? The simple reality is that the Republican Party was in business with Russian intelligence efforts, what used to be known as the KGB, and precious few leading the Republican Party seem to give a damn.I’ve spent decades waking up every morning eager to fight Democrats, trying to gain every bit of advantage for every battle. God knows we made mistakes and played too often on the Dark Side. But I never woke up knowing that somewhere out there a Russian agent was waking up with the same job I had.My dad was in the FBI when Hoover ordered the roundup of Asian Americans. He hated it and quit, joined the Navy and spent the next three years fighting in the South Pacific. Like so many, he didn’t talk a lot about the war but when it came to leaving the FBI, he told me once, “You can always say no.”And that’s my question to all those Republicans who are more worried about defending Donald Trump than defending America: Is this why you went into politics? Is this why you put up with all the bullshit and stupidity that is integral to our political system, so you can be on the same side as the Russians?You can always say no. Try it.
Some advocates of at least beginning the impeachment process understand that until public opinion moves, the House will not move. Two videos, one by Protect Democracy (a nonpartisan group active in litigating against President Trump’s unconstitutional overreach) and one by Republicans for the Rule of Law (in conjunction with Protect Democracy) aim to explain Trump’s misconduct and the findings of the Mueller report.Here is Protect Democracy’s effort://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY1-Q1FT3h0And here is Republicans for the Rule of Law:https://twitter.com/ForTheRuleOfLaw/status/1134140551001980928The videos are must-watch, not just because they present the essential findings of the Mueller report in clear, non-lawyerly language but also because they feature apolitical prosecutors. The notion that this is a “witch hunt” depends on the legal consensus that there is no there, there. To the contrary, about a thousand former prosecutors believe there is more than enough evidence for an obstruction charge.The first volume of the Mueller report deserves explanation too, perhaps from former national security officials. It should answer these basic questions:What triggered the counterintelligence investigation? Credible evidence from a foreign diplomat who overheard George Papadopoulos discussing efforts to get dirt on Hillary Clinton.Were the affidavits under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act correct and complete? Yes, as we found out after the memo from Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) was thoroughly debunked.What did Mueller find that the Russians did? He revealed a comprehensive, complex plot to interfere in the election in Trump’s favor.What did Trump and his flunkies do to encourage Russian help? They responded to invitations to get dirt on Clinton. Donald Trump Jr. for example held a meeting under the impression that he would get opposition research. Trump publicly called for Russia to find and release of hacked emails and then he made WikiLeaks’ revelations a key issue in the closing days of the campaign. No one from the campaign ever contacted authorities.How were Trump team’s actions interpreted by Russians? Russians saw a green light to continue their activities.How did Trump help Russian avoid accountability for their actions? He repeatedly and publicly took Russia’s side denying concrete evidence of Russian interference. To this day, he insists the Russians wanted to help Clinton. Trump has resisted efforts to secure our election machinery against hacking.Is this a crime? Mueller found that because there was no agreement between the Trump campaign and Russians, a criminal conspiracy charge could not be brought. There is no crime of “collusion.” Mueller explicitly said this was not something he looked for. To take another colloquial term, Trump aided and abetted Russians and tried to help conceal their crimes.Can Congress pass a law to make sure conduct of the type exhibited by Trump and his team is illegal? Yes, campaigns can be required to report contacts with foreign governments and their operatives. Receipt of “dirt” from a foreign power on one’s opponent or encouragement to find dirt can be criminalized.Did the FBI do anything illegal or improper? Current FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, appointed by Trump, says there was no “spying." An inspector general’s report already found the investigation was not influenced by partisanship or personal bias. Had the FBI not acted to investigate, it would have been grossly negligent and contrary to its officials’ oaths of office to defend the Constitution.Shouldn’t the Trump campaign have been warned about Russian interference? It was.If this isn’t a crime, why is it a big deal? The premise of our democracy is that Americans choose their leaders at the ballot box. Allowing foreigners to put their finger on the scale in favor of a candidate steals from us this fundamental right. A candidate who assists theft of our sovereignty in any fashion becomes beholden to a foreign government that helped them and, moreover, obtains power by circumventing democracy. That is unacceptable and certainly grounds for impeachment.I figure a video could cover all that and keep viewers’ attention, easily.Trump is an expert media manipulator who depends on his supporters’ complete dependence on Trump-friendly media. Break that monopoly on Trump TV and you will begin to shift weak-Trump supporters.[/size][/b]
On "Axios on HBO," Jared Kushner said he doesn't know whether he'd call the FBI if he were to receive an email today like the one before the campaign's Trump Tower meeting, which had the subject line: "Re: Russia - Clinton - private and confidential."//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql0-yup45psKushner said this after a tense exchange about the email he received to set up the infamous Trump Tower meeting. Why this matters: Kushner is now in the West Wing as senior adviser to the president. Shouldn't an email with an offer of help from Russians trigger a mental alarm? This bolsters the perception that President Trump’s inner circle still doesn't fully recognize the ongoing threat of Russian interference in American elections.Kushner’s response comes after FBI Director Christopher Wray said in congressional testimony that he would recommend that in the future, people contact the FBI if a foreign government offers campaign support.What he's saying: Kushner said people are being "self-righteous" and playing "Monday morning quarterback" by asking him why he didn't call the FBI when he saw the email offering help for the Trump campaign from Russia."Let me put you in my shoes at that time. OK, I'm running three companies, I'm helping run the campaign. I get an email that says show up at 4 instead of 3 to a meeting that I had been told about earlier that I didn't know what the hell it was about."Asked if he'd call the FBI if it happened again, Kushner said: "I don't know. It's hard to do hypotheticals, but the reality is is that we were not given anything that was salacious."[/size][/b]
Kushner unsure whether he'd alert FBI if Russians request another meetingQuoteOn "Axios on HBO," Jared Kushner said he doesn't know whether he'd call the FBI if he were to receive an email today like the one before the campaign's Trump Tower meeting, which had the subject line: "Re: Russia - Clinton - private and confidential."//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql0-yup45psKushner said this after a tense exchange about the email he received to set up the infamous Trump Tower meeting. Why this matters: Kushner is now in the West Wing as senior adviser to the president. Shouldn't an email with an offer of help from Russians trigger a mental alarm? This bolsters the perception that President Trump’s inner circle still doesn't fully recognize the ongoing threat of Russian interference in American elections.Kushner’s response comes after FBI Director Christopher Wray said in congressional testimony that he would recommend that in the future, people contact the FBI if a foreign government offers campaign support.What he's saying: Kushner said people are being "self-righteous" and playing "Monday morning quarterback" by asking him why he didn't call the FBI when he saw the email offering help for the Trump campaign from Russia."Let me put you in my shoes at that time. OK, I'm running three companies, I'm helping run the campaign. I get an email that says show up at 4 instead of 3 to a meeting that I had been told about earlier that I didn't know what the hell it was about."Asked if he'd call the FBI if it happened again, Kushner said: "I don't know. It's hard to do hypotheticals, but the reality is is that we were not given anything that was salacious."[/size][/b]Kushner is a fucking coward.#Resist
Axios’s Jonathan Swan, sitting down with President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner for “Axios on HBO,” raised one of the questions central to the investigation into allegations of coordination between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.“On June the 8, 2016,” Swan began, “you were sent an email with an offer of help for the Trump campaign from the Russian government.”"I'm sorry,” Kushner replied, “which email are you talking about?"There’s not a zero chance that Kushner knew exactly which email Swan was asking about, just as there’s not a zero chance that the sun will suddenly vanish at noon on Wednesday. Maybe Kushner has so effectively externalized questions about the Trump campaign and Russian interference that he has only limited recollection of even the most-talked-about aspects of that issue, like this particular email chain. Or perhaps Kushner was deploying a tactic with which we’re all familiar: trying to downplay the importance of something by feigning ignorance about it."Ah, the email from, uh, Rob Goldstone,” Swan replied, identifying the music promoter who had initially reached out to Donald Trump Jr. with the request for a meeting on behalf of his client, a Russian developer and pop star named Emin Agalarov. The email we know Kushner received wasn’t from Goldstone but, instead, had been forwarded by Trump Jr."FW: Russia — Clinton — private and confidential,” the email subject line read. “Meeting got moved to 4 tomorrow at my offices,” Trump Jr. wrote, with the rest of the email chain following beneath it. That included Goldstone's initial pitch for the meeting, which was “to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary [Clinton]” that was “part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."“Let me put you in my shoes at that time,” Kushner said to Swan, full memory of the moment returning in a flash. “Okay, I’m running three companies, I’m helping run the campaign. I get an email that says show up at 4 instead of 3 to a meeting that I had been told about earlier that I didn’t know what the hell it was about.”This is broadly in line with what Kushner said in his prepared testimony offered to Congress in July 2017.“In June 2016, my brother-in-law Donald Trump Jr. asked if I was free to stop by a meeting on June 9 at 3 p.m.,” he said. “The campaign was headquartered in the same building as his office in Trump Tower, and it was common for each of us to swing by the other’s meetings when requested. He eventually sent me his own email changing the time of the meeting to 4 p.m. That email was on top of a long back and forth that I did not read at the time.”Trump Jr., for his part, told congressional investigators that he had “asked Jared and Paul [Manafort, then the campaign chairman] if they could attend but told them none of the substance or who was going to be there since I did not know myself. Because we were in the same building Paul, Jared and I would routinely invite one another to attend meetings at a moment’s notice."At another point in Trump Jr.'s testimony, he said that he remembered having told Manafort and Kushner about the meeting over email only. Presented with a record of a series of calls he made June 7, Trump Jr. claimed not to have remembered making them — though he spoke to both Manafort and Kushner in the 45 minutes before emailing Goldstone to confirm that original 3 p.m. meeting time. We’re asked to believe that Trump Jr. either called both of his colleagues to invite them to a meeting without explaining what his understanding of the meeting was or that he called them to talk about something else entirely at a remarkably coincidental moment.The next morning, Kushner emailed his assistant to set up the meeting — before receiving the email from Trump Jr. When the time was changed, Kushner forwarded the message to his assistant to adjust his calendar.The report from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III includes a reference to an interview with Rick Gates, the campaign’s number two at the time of the meeting. Gates told Mueller’s team that “in the days before June 9, 2016, Trump Jr. announced at a regular morning meeting of senior campaign staff and Trump family members that he had a lead on negative information about the Clinton Foundation.” This information, Gates said, was coming to Trump Jr. from “a group in Kyrgyzstan and that he was introduced to the group by a friend.” Agalarov’s development company, Mueller’s report says, “has done substantial work in Kyrgyzstan.” Kushner attended that meeting at some point.Kushner described to Swan the meeting itself, again in line with what he has said in the past. Instead of being offered dirt on Clinton, as promised, the meeting instead apparently focused heavily on the Magnitsky Act, a law signed by President Barack Obama that imposed sanctions on a number of prominent Russian officials.“I show up at the meeting,” Kushner said. “I stay for 15 minutes. It’s a, it’s a clown show. . . . I text my assistant and say can you give me a call and get me the hell out of here. This is a waste of time. I leave. I never would have thought about that meeting again.”One has to wonder why Kushner was so frustrated with the meeting if he had no expectations for it. He arrived late, according to various attendees, and quickly expressed his frustration with the information that was being offered. In a context in which Kushner knew about what was being offered, that frustration makes sense. In a scenario in which he didn't know what it was supposed to be about, that reaction seems a little less justified.When House Intelligence Committee Republicans released a summary of their investigation last year, they implied that both Kushner and Manafort had known about the subject of the meeting in advance, as Just Security noted at the time.Why does this matter now? Swan’s question was centered on the fact that the Trump campaign had received this offer of information from a hostile foreign power without informing U.S. authorities. Kushner’s response was entirely predicated on the idea that he didn’t know in advance what the point of the meeting was."Does it not set off at least some alarm bell when you see an email saying that the Russian government wants to help the campaign?” Swan asked.“Like I said, the email that I got on my iPhone at the time basically said show up at 4,” Kushner replied. “I didn’t scroll down; I never would’ve thought about that email.”"It had Russia in the subject line,” Swan said.“Again, I would get about 250 emails a day, and so I literally saw show up at 4,” Kushner said. “I showed up at 4.”The evidence above suggests that this is a misrepresentation of what happened. But there's a reason for it.Swan pressed Kushner to, essentially, admit that taking the meeting had been a mistake."Would you call the FBI if it happened again?” Swan asked.“I don’t know,” Kushner responded. “It’s hard to do hypotheticals, but the reality is, is that we were not given anything that was salacious.”The implication is that the meeting was fine to take — even with the predication that Russia was trying to aid the campaign — because what was offered wasn’t useful.But, then, Kushner isn’t even sure which email we’re talking about here, anyway.