Donald Trump Presidency-Day One

[broncofan]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1R50S3

This is a decent summary of some of the other legal issues, both civil and criminal at the state level that might be on the horizon for Trump. It's probably not comprehensive.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/o...rr-letter.html

This is also a good article by Bob Bauer about how Trump's conduct often skirted the lines of illegality. He argues that an important consideration for Mueller was that many of Trump's acts of obstruction took place in public view.

It's sort of ironic that the more flagrant his conduct is the less it shows consciousness of guilt which may be a saving grace. But then wouldn't the fact that he asked Kushner and Sessions to leave the room before he asked Comey to go easy on Flynn be even more damning? This is a man who is not conscientious enough to avoid witness tampering in public view but asked close associates to leave him alone for his most flagrant attempt to interfere with law enforcement.

[filghy2]

[URL]This is also a good article by Bob Bauer about how Trump's conduct often skirted the lines of illegality. He argues that an important consideration for Mueller was that many of Trump's acts of obstruction took place in public view.

It's sort of ironic that the more flagrant his conduct is the less it shows consciousness of guilt which may be a saving grace.

One of life's great mysteries is how Trump has generally been able to live such a charmed life with the legal and regulatory authorities. For instance, he was able to retain a New Jersey gaming licence despite clear evidence that he had links to organised crime - the regulatory authority simply chose not to investigate. No wonder he thinks normal rules don't apply to him, given he's rarely had to face the full legal or financial consequences of his actions.

There's a theory that Trump has been the ultimate beneficiary of the too big to fail syndrome. First he was too big to fail financially. The regulatory authorities didn't want to shut him down because the consequences would have been too big to handle. His creditors were fairly easy on him in bankruptcy proceeding because the consequences of his failure would have been too big. Now he's too big to fail politically. The Republican party feels it must protect him because his failure would bring them down as well.

Trump is clearly a sociopath who doesn't care about others and doesn't think there should be constraints on him. I'm sure he was getting plenty of legal advice about what might constitute obstruction of justice. But I think he just can't help himself when he feels that something is unfair to him - which is basically any constraint or scrutiny of his behaviour. Also he probably calculated that he could get away with it, given he has mostly gotten away with things in the past.

[Stavros]

filghy2, I regret to say your post is a near perfect summary of a man's career. The only thing we can hope for is that in his zeal to be himself, he will trip up, and not on a banana skin. He may now, as Steve Bannon has put it, go full animal on those who dared to challenge him, calling them 'evil' and 'treasonous' though I assume his definition of treason doesn't get the accused into a courtroom. Sad!

[yodajazz]

I agree with you completely. The answer to your question goes to the heart of why Trump is unfit for office. He wasn't sure whether the investigation would reveal minor improprieties on his part or whether it would incriminate his family members so he felt he had to call it a witch-hunt. When the investigation didn't reveal anything too damaging for him to accept, he can say it exonerates him and Mueller's word is good.

But he did obstruct justice. What were all of his fulminations on twitter and behind the scenes about if not to corrupt the process? Why did he fire Comey and threaten to fire Sessions and Rosenstein if not because they would not serve his own personal interests? The problem is that Democrats set the bar so high by insisting he must be a traitor or an agent of Russia, that simply having no respect for the rule of law seems trivial. At the beginning of this, I said I wasn't sure whether his behavior was consistent with someone who is guilty of something or simply of someone who cannot accept scrutiny. If it turns out it's the latter, that's no less damning.

Now we sit and wait to see if Mueller has handed off crimes that are outside his mandate to state prosecutors. Either way, it is time for Democrats to mostly move on. Impeachment is a political process anyway. There was an investigation conducted by an honest man who has indicted those he saw fit to indict and there may be investigations that branch off of this one, but 2020 approaches.

Well, I agree with you. He did obstruct justice, by attacking the rule of law, with his words. And he continues to do so. While this might not rise to the level of an crime, it means he is not performing his duties, as outlined in the Constitution. He was/is not protecting The Constitution, with his words. And he has done this for a prolonged time. So the length of time, is a factor, I'm talking deep-state stuff, here. I know that removal of a president, may have higher standards, than firing someone from other jobs. However consider this analogy; You do not have t0 be accused of a crime, to be let go from a job.

[yodajazz]

I agree with you completely. The answer to your question goes to the heart of why Trump is unfit for office. He wasn't sure whether the investigation would reveal minor improprieties on his part or whether it would incriminate his family members so he felt he had to call it a witch-hunt. When the investigation didn't reveal anything too damaging for him to accept, he can say it exonerates him and Mueller's word is good.

But he did obstruct justice. What were all of his fulminations on twitter and behind the scenes about if not to corrupt the process? Why did he fire Comey and threaten to fire Sessions and Rosenstein if not because they would not serve his own personal interests? The problem is that Democrats set the bar so high by insisting he must be a traitor or an agent of Russia, that simply having no respect for the rule of law seems trivial. At the beginning of this, I said I wasn't sure whether his behavior was consistent with someone who is guilty of something or simply of someone who cannot accept scrutiny. If it turns out it's the latter, that's no less damning.

Now we sit and wait to see if Mueller has handed off crimes that are outside his mandate to state prosecutors. Either way, it is time for Democrats to mostly move on. Impeachment is a political process anyway. There was an investigation conducted by an honest man who has indicted those he saw fit to indict and there may be investigations that branch off of this one, but 2020 approaches.

Well, I agree with you. He did obstruct justice, by attacking the rule of law, with his words. And he continues to do so. While this might not rise to the level of an crime, it means he is not performing his duties, as outlined in the Constitution. He was/is not protecting The Constitution, with his words. And he has done this for a prolonged time. So the length of time, is a factor, I'm talking deep-state stuff, here. I know that removal of a president, may have higher standards, than firing someone from other jobs. However consider this analogy; You do not have t be accused of a crime, to be let go from a job.

[filghy2]

filghy2, I regret to say your post is a near perfect summary of a man's career. The only thing we can hope for is that in his zeal to be himself, he will trip up, and not on a banana skin. He may now, as Steve Bannon has put it, go full animal on those who dared to challenge him, calling them 'evil' and 'treasonous' though I assume his definition of treason doesn't get the accused into a courtroom. Sad!

It looks like he'll be getting plenty of encouragement to pursue payback. It may never amount to anything more than another "lock em up" chant, but the scary thing is that 80-90% of Republicans would probably cheer him on even more.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/...ection-1235224
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/25/182786...tives-reaction

Unfortunately the US seems to be heading toward a situation where the law is seen as just another instrument of partisanship.

[Stavros]

If this:

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) The Mainstream Media is under fire and being scorned all over the World as being corrupt and FAKE. For two years they pushed the Russian Collusion Delusion when they always knew there was No Collusion. They truly are the Enemy of the People and the Real Opposition Party!

Then shut down the 'Enemy of the people' arrest them, charge them in a court of law, and if convicted, send them to prison.

Or was that just bullshit 'Mr President'?

[Stavros]

Another argument I agree with that emphasises how the Mueller Enquiry was biased to protect the President and his family -

That Russia undertook a massive and sophisticated cyberattack on America’s free elections is incontrovertible. That they did it to elect Donald Trump and were successful in helping him is also clear as day. That Trump has shown nothing but subservience to Russian president Vladimir Putin is undeniable. But those disturbing facts are now being obscured by the GOP’s victory lap over the Mueller report (or, more precisely, AG Barr’s spin on it).

The gloating “patriots” on the right are conveniently forgetting what the intelligence community and law enforcement concluded: that America was subjected to a massive cyberattack by the Kremlin intended to tilt a US election to the Republican candidate. And Trump and his GOP apologists like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham are giving the attackers a pass. Unfortunately, by hyping the Mueller report, Democratic lawmakers and strategists have given the GOP fodder to obfuscate and spin.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-a8840861.html

[filghy2]

Unfortunately I fear that the average disengaged voter who doesn't read much beyond the headlines has now formed the impression that Mueller has exonerated Trump and there was no basis to the collusion allegations. Which is exactly the result that Trump and his enablers wanted.

[yodajazz]

Another argument I agree with that emphasises how the Mueller Enquiry was biased to protect the President and his family -

That Russia undertook a massive and sophisticated cyberattack on America’s free elections is incontrovertible. That they did it to elect Donald Trump and were successful in helping him is also clear as day. That Trump has shown nothing but subservience to Russian president Vladimir Putin is undeniable. But those disturbing facts are now being obscured by the GOP’s victory lap over the Mueller report (or, more precisely, AG Barr’s spin on it).

The gloating “patriots” on the right are conveniently forgetting what the intelligence community and law enforcement concluded: that America was subjected to a massive cyberattack by the Kremlin intended to tilt a US election to the Republican candidate. And Trump and his GOP apologists like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham are giving the attackers a pass. Unfortunately, by hyping the Mueller report, Democratic lawmakers and strategists have given the GOP fodder to obfuscate and spin.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-a8840861.html

Unfortunately I fear that the average disengaged voter who doesn't read much beyond the headlines has now formed the impression that Mueller has exonerated Trump and there was no basis to the collusion allegations. Which is exactly the result that Trump and his enablers wanted.

One thing that I think particularly dangerous, and insidious, is Trump's use of the word "witch hunt". He implies that there was no factual basis, for the investigation. The narrative also implies that everything was made up, by a 'deep state' just to attack him. In various discussions in comments sections, I have asked, 'What about Facebook, and Twitter. Are they part of the deep state?' I have gotten little response, except that, 'it didn't make any difference'. Yet it was still a crime, an attack against the US election. So an investigation of the Trump campaign, for possible conspiracy, was warranted. I believe the release of the Mueller Report, will support the idea, that the investigation was a about a real threat vs, Trump's position. Does anyone, have an idea of Trump's latest position, or if he has acknowledged, that there was a real attack?

I understand that low information don't realize that internet users location is identified in their IP address. to this point; I ran into an article today, about Reddit releasing the content of posting by russian users. They trace some of it directly to the infamous, Internet Research Agency. You can examine the content yourself, in this extensive article.
Russian Propaganda On Reddit – Arc Digital