Donald Trump Presidency-Day One

[buttslinger]

This has happened to me several times. I learned to copy my post, before I hit the Go Advanced button. . Sometimes in relogging in a little dialogue window will pop up and ask if I want to use the post, that disappeared.

Yeah, it just did it again, I got sent to a page that said I wasn't signed in, and when I hit the backup arrow I was shown out to cyberspace. It only does it occasionally, but most of my posts aren't based on facts, they're idea flows, and …..blah blah blah. Thanks Yoda.

[buttslinger]

OK, here's the way I see it, but...
As I understand it, after the fall of the Soviet Union, all these utilities and stuff that the Govt had previously dealt with were dealt out to a bunch of thugs, and Putin was their boss. Putin is supposedly one of the richest men in the World, but nobody knows how much because it's all hidden. But it's billions.
Trump was deeply in debt, and none of the legit banks would lend him money. So he starts laundering these Russian gangster's billions in real estate deals. So after a decade or so of getting richer off Donald Trump, now Putin can blackmail Trump for POWER, for all I know Trump handed over a disc with all the West's secrets on it in Helsinki.

Where my story falls apart is that if Trump knew all this was about to become public record.....is he so twisted he thinks he can get away with it" Puppet? no puppet. you're the puppet!


Mueller came off the bench for this one, he was retired to private business, but he got the band back together and looked into Putin in the US. Putin in Europe. They start wars for that shit. We're going to see the most airtight case you can get, but who knows, we're breaking new ground here, I dunno, if Mueller had proof Trump was running with those 15 Russians he indicted, do you interrupt an election for that? a midterm election? Do you interrupt an election if the Russians are hardwired into it?


I remember Lindsey Graham being happy the day Mueller was brought on, but he lamented that the people will never here any more dirt about Trump because it will all get dished behind doors in Mueller's office. The White House, The Senate, the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, a jacked up Economy......and Trump still fucked it up. sad

[Stavros]

I have woken this morning to comments from the parties involved that, as expected, attempt to dismiss the huge importance of the results of yesterday's court appearances.

Again, as expected, the most insulting remark comes from Rudolph Giuliani, who once took on the Mafia in New York with some success, but now seems mentally incapable of distinguishing the violation of the law from the person breaking it:

"There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government's charges against Michael Cohen..."
In other words, Michael Cohen, one of the most trusted men in 'the Organization' who said he would 'take a bullet' for The Man, has been a fraud and a liar all that time and nobody knew it-? When did Giuliani first discover John Gotti was a 'Mafia Don'? Did he ever believe Gotti might just be a 'businessman' as he said he was?

The judgement of the President, meanwhile, continues to cause concern with people who can read and write, and who, when presented with the facts in the case of a man who participated in one of the greatest robberies of all time -assisting the President of the Ukraine and his chums in the looting of two-thirds of the country's wealth-
He said: "Paul Manafort is a good man. It doesn't involve me, but I still feel - you know, it's a very sad thing that happened".

If you judge a man by the millions in his bank account(s) then I guess Paul Manafort is a good man, but then I guess you could say the same of John Gotti, were it not for the means by which he acquired his wealth.
All the quotes above from the Conservative Telegraph online-
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...fraud-charges/

The real issue here is the claim that the President, as President cannot be indicted for a crime. The Constitution does not say it cannot happen, but apparently the Justice Department has some kind of 'rule' or 'principle' that a President can only be prosecuted for a crime after he leaves office. I am not sure about that. This is what a New York Times article argues:

1) Although there is no explicit prohibition in the Constitution against indicting a president, the Justice Department has long taken the position that sitting presidents are not subject to criminal prosecution.

2) A middle ground and second option urged by some legal experts is to allow prosecutors to obtain an indictment but defer further proceedings until the president leaves office.

3) The third option is impeachment, and prosecutors may present the evidence they have gathered to the House for its consideration.

However, a law professor, Eric M. Freedman has argued that a President can be indicted-
that granting sitting presidents immunity from prosecution was “inconsistent with the history, structure and underlying philosophy of our government, at odds with precedent and unjustified by practical considerations.”

But as the article points out and I think this is crucial, when the law was broken, it was broken not by a President, but a Presidential candidate. The question is thus not, can a sitting President be indicted, but can a President be indicted for a crime he committed before becoming President? They point to the case of Presidential nominee John Edwards, who was taken to court over campaign finance violations but not convicted, so there is a precedent with regard to candidates.

The NYT article is here-
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/u...-indicted.html

Maybe as I am not an American there is something I don't understand here. For example, if a group of Senators visits the White House for a meeting with the President, and in full view of the cameras the President pulls out a gun and shoots a dissenting Senator dead, nothing can happen until the President resigns, is impeached, or loses an election -is that right? Indeed, name any crime and the President carries on as if it were not important -and this is a President who will never admit he is wrong about anything -because it is up to Congress to impeach?

The President makes money from the office because there is nothing in the Constitution that says he can't, so if the Constitution doesn't say you can't do it, go ahead, America, indict the man, send him to trial.

Lastly, there was one shocking moment in yesterday's proceedings against Cohen:

Asked by Judge William Pauley whether he was fit to enter a plea, and whether he had consumed any drugs or alcohol in the previous 24 hours, Cohen replied: "Yes. Last night at dinner I had a glass of Glenlivet, 12 years old, on the rocks."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...fraud-charges/

It may be only 12 years old, but the man who puts ice in his Single Malt is a man without culture, violating a sacred ritual. Lock him up!

[Stavros]

US President Donald Trump said he would consider pardoning his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted on Tuesday of bank and tax fraud, according to a Fox News reporter who interviewed Trump.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...paul-manafort/

Because it is all about HIM, and loyalty to HIM. The rule of law? Bank Fraud? Is it the case that none of these things will be of any legal relevance because the President can just sweep them all away with the wave of a hand? Will he wait for the trials of Paul Manafort to end or do it now, rendering every proceeding completely worthless? It seems Manafort only needs to sit in court and say nothing because the evidence and the verdict will be irrelevant. He could be guilty on every count and be sentenced to 100 years (like they do in the US), knowing his buddy will wave his imperial hands and he won't go to gaol.

But hey, it won't matter, the Republicans don't care. They have anointed their God and King, he can do anything he wants and they will protect him. When Boris Johnson was told business leaders in the UK are concerned at the UK crashing out of the EU he responded, 'Fuck business!'. Perhaps Mitch McConnell should do the right thing and respond to the latest news, 'Fuck America!'.

[buttslinger]

Satan and his lawyers were seen outside the offices of Robert Mueller today, rumors are he was looking for a full immunity deal l if he testifies against Trump. He was spotted later at Duke Zieberts having a New York Strip with Allen Weisselberg. Meanwhile, Trump was said to be seething about John McCain stealing his thunder once again, AWKWARD. Questions loom about what Trump will do if cornered, even Satan shrugged when asked. Are Trump and Pecker still buds? I guess we'll have to check out the next issue of the National Enquirer for the truth.
If Mueller doesn't state his case before the elections, and we spend all of 2019 dragging a kicking and screaming Trump to Club Fed, that would be about a trillion dollars worth of free political ads for the Democrats. Yeah, let's do that. Mike Pence can be our 5 minute President.

[Stavros]

I am still trying to get my head around a story about a President, a Porn Star, a Playboy Model, the National Enquirer and a man called Pecker.

[buttslinger]

I am still trying to get my head around a story about a President, a Porn Star, a Playboy Model, the National Enquirer and a man called Pecker.

Imagine how the Clintons feel.

[Stavros]

If true, this is devastating, and gives a new depth to the Mueller enquiry.

From Newsweek:
Donald Trump Is a 'Russian Asset' Owned by the Mafia, Author Claims in New Book

Omarosa vs. Trump may be the political pro wrestling match of the week, but a more serious confrontation could be prompted by a book that came out Tuesday, alleging that President Donald Trump may be a Russian asset compromised by billions of laundered dollars over decades of shady real estate deals.
In House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia, veteran journalist and author Craig Unger names 59 Russians as business associates of Trump (who has claimed he has none) and follows the purported financial links between them and the Trump Organization going back decades.
The Trump White House did not immediately respond to Newsweek's requests for comment. In February 2017, Trump issued a blanket denial to questions about Russian money and his business. "I have no dealings with Russia. I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because we’ve stayed away," he said. "And I have no loans with Russia. I have no loans with Russia at all."
Newsweek spoke with Unger about ties he claims exist between the Russian mafia, President Vladimir Putin and the Trump Organization, as well as what a guilty verdict for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort could mean for the future of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

What is money laundering, and what role do you believe the Trump Organization played in it?
Money laundering is taking money from illicit sources and essentially cleaning it and putting it into a Western bank. We are talking about huge sums, a trillion dollars in flight capital from Russia since Putin became president. With the demise of the Soviet Union, the floodgates opened for the Russian mafia. All of Russia's natural resources were up for grabs. If you needed to launder huge sums of money, the best ways are casinos and real estate—both of which Trump was in. Casinos have a $10,000 [reporting threshold under the Bank Secrecy Act]. The Trump Taj Mahal violated that more than a hundred times. But you can’t launder a trillion dollars that way. You really need something like real estate.
You allege that the Trump Organization laundered billions of dollars. How much of the money would it have gotten to keep?
It did enrich him. He gets an 18 to 25 percent franchising fee for these [real estate] projects. Just as McDonald’s franchises burgers, Trump was franchising luxury condos in roughly 40 Trump Towers all over the world. But the larger point is the Russian mafia bailed him out. They own him.
You name numerous alleged mafia links to Trump. Isn’t that just how business is done in New York commercial development?
It has been, absolutely. I think the Russian mafia’s role has been dismissed and not analyzed because people think that in real estate you have to pay off construction people. That has been true historically. But early in Trump's career, the Italian mafia began partnering with the Russian mafia, and the Russian mafia is very, very different, and that ups the ante. The major reason for that is that Russian mafia is a state actor.

There are two things that you say intersect here: the mafia and the Russian government. Explain.
I interviewed [former] General Oleg Kalugin, who was head of counterintelligence for the KGB, and when I asked him about the Russian mafia, he said, "Oh, that’s another branch of the KGB."
Who is Semion Mogilevich?
He is the brains behind the Russian mafia. He is worth $10 billion. He is the king of money launderers, and he is the financial genius behind many of their scams. Russia has no Wall Street, no Goldman Sachs. If you have financial acumen, you work for the Russian mafia. If he had been born here, he might be head of Goldman Sachs. The Russian mafia fetishizes brutality. Mogilevich helped elevate it from this thuggish world of extortion to sophisticated financial scams. He lives in Moscow. He has been on the FBI Ten Most Wanted list, and one of the people on the Budapest task force investigating him was Lisa Page, who was part of Mueller’s investigation. [Page resigned from the FBI in May.]
You call this the greatest intelligence operation of our time. What do you mean by that?
It started out as a simple money-laundering operation at Trump Tower in 1984, when a Russian mobster came to Trump Tower with $6 million in cash and bought five condos. This is the template for what begins to unfold. At least 1,300 of Trump condos in the United States have been sold similarly. All cash purchases through anonymous sources. Those numbers reflect only domestic property. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the KGB decided to create multibillion-dollar companies to survive. The use of the term mafia state is not just a metaphor. It really explains how Russia works. The mafia essentially reports to Putin.
Do you think Trump knew he was being targeted, or did he just think the Russians were being nice and helpful?
I have no idea what’s going on in his mind. But it's hard to believe someone can do 1,300 transactions and not know what is going on.
Both Trump sons have talked about how much money was coming into their business from Russia in the 2000s. Doesn’t that suggest that it was not a secret operation and that the U.S. government was fully aware of it?
Regulations in real estate are so lax that the Trump Organization and Trump have repeatedly said they don't have to do due diligence. And, legally, that is largely true. Sometimes, what is most scandalous is what's legal.
How is it that the U.S. authorities never noticed the relationship you allege between Trump and the Russian mobsters?
I think the whole story of the FBI’s role in this is another book, but there are important unanswered questions there. Before 9/11, the FBI was clearly on the trail of the Russian mafia, and they opened a task force in Budapest that was specifically going after Mogilevich. They chased Mogilevich back to Moscow, where there is no extradition treaty. Soon after that, 9/11 happened. The priorities of the FBI shifted dramatically.
How much so-called kompromat do you believe the Russians have on Trump, how far back does it go, and what is the nature of it?
I am approaching things quite differently than looking for the pee tape. In a lot of ways, the kompromat is hiding in plain sight. I found 59 links between Trump and Russia. He said zero. I say 59. These cannot possibly be random or coincidental contacts. It evolves into something more than money laundering over time.
What is Manafort’s alleged role? What does he know about Trump?
Manafort is an incredibly crucial link to Putin’s goals. He connected Trump directly to Putin's strategic objectives. One question people are not asking: Where is the Russian mafia money coming from? In my book, I identify two pipelines. One is the Ukraine energy trade, in which Mogilevich has a gas intermediary. They get gas at low prices and resell it at market prices, and through this, they were skimming $750 million a year off the Ukraine energy trade. They were getting all that money and wanted the political wherewithal to support it. Manafort was hired to assist Putin's candidate in Ukraine. He was paid in money that he had to launder. And some of that went through a shell company, and I tie that directly to Mogilevich.
How can Manafort hurt Trump?
If he’s convicted, he can still flip. Manafort has known Trump for 30 years. He knows how the whole thing works.
Did any Russian mobsters either follow or threaten you in the course of your research?
I have not had threats. But I dedicate this book to Paul Klebnikov and other Russian journalists who have been murdered. Dozens and dozens of people have been murdered. It takes real courage for the Russian journalists to pursue this.
Which of your findings do you think Americans would find most shocking?
There is a Russian asset in the White House. He is an asset. I believe he is an agent, but it's hard to prove he is knowledgeable. When you look at the 59 Russians, some live in Trump Tower. The Russian mafia is a state actor, and it has direct ties to Russian intelligence, and they have been located in the home of the president of the United States!
This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Lisa Page resigned from the FBI in May.

https://www.newsweek.com/manafort-tr...ok-fbi-1076582

[Jericho]

The only thing that can top that lot is if tRumpf gets assassinated.
The conspiracy theorists will be spinning like tops for years!

If true, this is devastating, and gives a new depth to the Mueller enquiry.

From Newsweek:
Donald Trump Is a 'Russian Asset' Owned by the Mafia, Author Claims in New Book

[Stavros]

The only thing that can top that lot is if tRumpf gets assassinated.
The conspiracy theorists will be spinning like tops for years!

I don't know, but I think Mueller will refrain from issuing even an interim report before the mid-terms so that he cannot be accused of trying to influence the vote. It would appear that the FBI and the Obama Presidency became aware of Russian activity in the 2016 election but did not make it public a) because they were still gathering evidence, and b) because they did not want to be accused of influencing the vote.

The problem now is that His Imperial Majesty doesn't know if he should move before the mid-terms to shut the enquiry down and risk losing votes in the mid-terms, or wait until after the vote by which time it might be too late. Either way he either has to shut it down if he can, or resort to his tried and tested model of denial, denial, denial, attacking everyone as a liar and a traitor, on the basis that his supporters will approve and believe everything he says. This is a man who simply doesn't care about the institutions of government or the law, and will do whatever he can to remain in office, because he is not a loser. He is convinced the Republicans will retain control of the Senate so he is daring the Democrats to impeach calculating that it won't matter because the Senate will keep him in office.

You know there is a conspiracy theory that JFK was killed by the Mob, but this guy does't rat. He even made the disingenuous remark that he had never knowingly dealt with the mob while conceding the Mob ran the construction industry in Atlantic City-

Trump has consistently denied his dealings with any suspected mobsters ever crossed the line. But he has admitted that almost everyone involved in building casinos in Atlantic City in the 1980s used mob-linked companies.

“You had contractors that were supposedly mob-oriented all over Atlantic City,” he said once. “Every single casino company used the same companies.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...64357c047ee8ce

So, 'No, I never used Mafia companies, and yes, the building contracs were given to Mafia owned and controlled companies', or words to that effect.
Tell Michael, it was strictly business...