[AMV] Amerikaanse politiek #534 It's the Corruption, Stupid!

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Op dinsdag 31 juli 2018 20:52 schreef Monolith het volgende:
Nog een stukje realisme omtrent handelsakkoorden:
https://buff.ly/2OuOACY

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jjouvenal twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 18:28:29 Manafort jury pool so far: Largely white, appears to be well-educated, and have gov connections -- not surprising for Northern Virginia. Attorneys, software developers and other government workers in mix. reageer retweet

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jjouvenal twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 19:56:51 BREAKING: Jury is seated in Paul Manafort trial. It will be six men and six women with 4 alternates. The alternates are 3 women and 1 man. reageer retweet

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Flynn, Comey, and Mueller: What Trump Knew and When He Knew It

Previously undisclosed evidence in the possession of Special Counsel Robert Mueller—including highly confidential White House records and testimony by some of President Trump’s own top aides—provides some of the strongest evidence to date implicating the president of the United States in an obstruction of justice. Several people who have reviewed a portion of this evidence say that, based on what they know, they believe it is now all but inevitable that the special counsel will complete a confidential report presenting evidence that President Trump violated the law. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel’s work, would then decide on turning over that report to Congress for the House of Representatives to consider whether to instigate impeachment proceedings.

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I have learned that a confidential White House memorandum, which is in the special counsel’s possession, explicitly states that when Trump pressured Comey he had just been told by two of his top aides—his then chief of staff Reince Priebus and his White House counsel Don McGahn—that Flynn was under criminal investigation.

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In arguing in their January 29 letter that Trump did not obstruct justice, the president’s attorneys Dowd and Sekulow quoted selectively from this same memo, relying only on a few small portions of it. They also asserted that even if Trump knew there had been an FBI investigation of Flynn, Trump believed that Flynn had been cleared. Full review of the memo flatly contradicts this story.

The memo’s own statement that Trump was indeed told that Flynn was under FBI investigation was, in turn, based in part on contemporaneous notes written by Reince Priebus after discussing the matter with the president, as well as McGahn’s recollections to his staff about what he personally had told Trump, according to other records I was able to review. Moreover, people familiar with the matter have told me that both Priebus and McGahn have confirmed in separate interviews with the special counsel that they had told Trump that Flynn was under investigation by the FBI before he met with Comey.

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The February 15 memo, combined with accounts given to the special counsel by Priebus and McGahn, constitutes the most compelling evidence we yet know of that Donald Trump may have obstructed justice. In an effort to persuade the American people that the president has done nothing wrong, Trump and his supporters have blamed those they identify as their political adversaries—from President Barack Obama to Jim Comey, and including entire institutions such as the FBI and CIA, and an ill-defined “Deep State.” But the most compelling evidence that the president may have obstructed justice appears to come from his own most senior and loyal aides. The greatest threat to his presidency is not from his enemies, real or perceived, but from his allies within the White House.

https://www.nybooks.com/d(...)and-when-he-knew-it/

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lawfareblog twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 20:22:18 In a letter to @benjaminwittes, the Justice Department formally acknowledged that the President of the United States lied in a speech to Congress. https://t.co/DyU4WOYeUK reageer retweet

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JeffFlake twitterde op zondag 29-07-2018 om 19:20:26 Sunset this evening in rural Zimbabwe. Tomorrow, election day, marks a new day for this beautiful country. reageer retweet

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JamesHasson20 twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 01:14:28 Here is the upshot of what Flake is doing:Mitch McConnell kept the Senate in session in August (instead of recessing), so they could confirm Trump's judicial nominees, but Flake took his own recess for most of August. He's on judiciary, so now they can't confirm the judges. reageer retweet

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byrdinator twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 22:17:37 Senate Judiciary spox responds: "The Committee doesn’t have a markup this week and then goes into recess, so this won’t be an issue. As evidenced by today's confirmation... we don’t have any indication that Sen. Flake’s absence will impede consideration of judicial nominations." https://t.co/JCKADGxM8P reageer retweet

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Op dinsdag 31 juli 2018 23:02 schreef FlipjeHolland het volgende:
Iedereen doet hier alsof Trump's laatste uur elke dag geslagen is, maar iedere keer weet 'ie zich er toch weer uit te lullen. Die vent gaat gewoon lekker die vier jaar volmaken en als het een beetje meezit mag 'ie van die domme hamburgervreters nog eens vier jaar aan de bak.

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Op dinsdag 31 juli 2018 23:04 schreef Monolith het volgende:

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Nee dat doet niet iedereen hier en nee hij lult zich niet elke keer weer ergens uit, want het onderzoek van Mueller is nog steeds in volle gang.

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Op dinsdag 31 juli 2018 23:07 schreef FlipjeHolland het volgende:

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Dat onderzoek levert helaas nog niet veel dikke vissen op. Een paar guppies tot nog toe. Het wordt hoog tijd dat Mueller eens met echte resultaten komt, en het liefst voor de nieuwe verkiezingen.

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En dan nog... Iedereen heeft de hoop gevestigd dat Mueller de enige is die Trump ten val kan brengen, maar wie zegt dat 'ie dit ook niet overleeft? Trump is rasnarcist, die weet precies hoe 'ie de mensen moet bespelen.

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Op dinsdag 31 juli 2018 23:23 schreef speknek het volgende:
Ik denk dat als de Dems in de midterms de house en Senate flippen, dat Trump niet de vier jaar vol gaat houden. Als ze dat niet doen, dan wel. Zo simpel is het volgens mij gewoon. Trump gaat niet voor iets van deze federale aanklachten de bak in, want hij pardont zichzelf en zijn familie, maar hij kan nog wel impeached worden.
Als Mueller dus enige politieke gogme heeft, en ik denk dat hij dat heeft, brengt hij de volledige aanklacht pas na de midterms (Of anders de zaak), maar lekt hij genoeg in de tussentijd om de Dems te helpen.

Oh en de campagneleider, national security advisor en naar het zich laat aanzien Don Jr geen grote vissen? Please.

twitter:

mahoneysthename twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 23:11:39 .@Acosta is trying to do a stand-up at #trumptampa and the crowd is booing and chanting “CNN sucks” behind him. https://t.co/XiULajB1Li reageer retweet

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Op dinsdag 31 juli 2018 23:34 schreef Euribob het volgende:

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Senate zou echt heel fijn zijn, maar het House is het belangrijkst. Dan kan er namelijk ook op politiek niveau een onderzoek gehouden worden, en dat zou heel veel bewijs tegen Trump kunnen opleveren en ook (niet onbelangrijk) betekenen dat dat bij het publiek bekend zou worden. Dat kan het laatste zetje in approval zijn waardoor de Republikeinen (ook in de Senaat) hem niet meer willen verdedigen.

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Op dinsdag 31 juli 2018 23:46 schreef FlipjeHolland het volgende:
https://www.spectator.co.(...)igation-on-its-head/

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From time to time I've been catching up with a Republican strategist who is trying to help the GOP keep control of the House in this November's midterm elections. It's been an up-and-down ride.

"I would put the odds of keeping the House at exactly 50-50," he told me in January.

"I get how bad things seemingly are," he said during a particularly tumultuous time in April. "But if the election were today, I'd bet my son's college tuition we'd keep the House."

He was even more confident by June. "We keep the House," he told me. "I'd bet a lot of money on that."

And now: "The last 30 days have been really bad. I really wouldn't want to have the election today."

Looking back, each change in the strategist's mood has been the result of whatever President Trump was doing at that particular moment. His current anguish is the product of what he called "30 days of sh-t." By that, he meant the period of time beginning with Trump's decision to separate families crossing illegally into the United States and ending with his performance at the Helsinki summit.

Both hurt Republicans, the strategist said, but probably the Trump-Putin summit hurt more. When the president met with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, he said, many Republican-targeted voters saw a certain method in the madness. It actually helped GOP candidates. But when Trump met Vladimir Putin, those voters didn't see the method part.

If the past is any lesson, memories will fade. But the problem going forward is that as future Trumpian incidents occur, Republicans will have less and less time to recover before Nov. 6.

"The next couple of weeks/months are critical in that we have had peaks and valleys before, but they always got fixed," the strategist said. "The fear is that we're running out of time and maybe they won't get fixed."

SPOILER

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AP twitterde op woensdag 01-08-2018 om 00:17:15 BREAKING: Federal judge issues temporary restraining order stopping release of downloadable blueprints for 3D-printed guns reageer retweet

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NatashaBertrand twitterde op woensdag 01-08-2018 om 00:18:43 We also got the first glimpse of Manafort’s defense strategy: the argument that Mueller’s mandate was too broad has been thrown out the window, and Gates has been thrown under the bus. https://t.co/gxoPEO7rTr reageer retweet

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kylegriffin1 twitterde op woensdag 01-08-2018 om 00:50:00 Robert Mueller has reportedly referred a collection of cases to New York federal prosecutors concerning whether several high-profile American lobbyists and operatives failed to register their work as foreign agents. https://t.co/Vphci9Gg5M reageer retweet

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AshaRangappa_ twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 23:44:59 I love that the Trumpers believe it is SO UNFAIR for Manafort to be punished for things he did a decade ago -- but it's totally OK to arrest undocumented kids who were brought to this country when they were 2yo decades later for "breaking the law" 🙄 https://t.co/5gkeYESoBK reageer retweet

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Federal investigators say some of the money went to Maria Butina’s campaign to help Russia infiltrate American politics.

A $45,000 payment to an undisclosed law firm. A cash withdrawal for $14,000. Almost $90,000 sent to or from a Russian bank. These and other bank transactions totaling nearly $300,000, none of which have been made public, offer the first detailed look at how an accused foreign agent and a Republican operative financed what prosecutors say was a Russian campaign to influence American politics.

Anti-fraud investigators at Wells Fargo flagged the transactions — by Paul Erickson, a conservative consultant from South Dakota, and Maria Butina, who is in jail awaiting trial on charges of secretly acting as a Russian agent — as “suspicious,” noting in some cases that they could find no “apparent economic, business, or lawful purpose” to explain them. Now counterintelligence officers say the duo’s banking activity could provide a road map of back channels to powerful American entities such as the National Rifle Association, and information about the Kremlin’s attempt to sway the 2016 US presidential election.

Cash withdrawals, most of them from Erickson’s personal and business accounts, make up $107,000 of the financial transactions now being investigated. The largest of those withdrawals — $14,000 — occurred in December 2015, when Erickson reportedly traveled to Moscow as part of an NRA delegation. The visit was sponsored by a Russian gun rights organization started by Butina, federal authorities say.

The duo also deposited about $90,000 in cash in their accounts, which has made it difficult for investigators to determine the source or purpose of the funds.

SPOILER

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'It's more evidence that she had a broader agenda, she was doing other work for the Kremlin,' one observer tells The Daily Beast.

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SethAbramson twitterde op woensdag 01-08-2018 om 04:24:30 (IMPORTANT) Maria Butina's Russian bank pinged Trump Tower *thousands of times* between May and September 2016. Those pings--along with one other server--made up 99% of *all pings* to Trump Tower during that period.Who owns the other server? Erik Prince's brother-in-law.Really. https://t.co/4udysEORVD reageer retweet

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SethAbramson twitterde op woensdag 01-08-2018 om 04:33:08 I'm ONLY posting this to get cybersecurity experts to weigh in. This is NOT my field; I don't understand this document AT ALL. So I'm asking any experts reading this--is this a plausible theory of the Alfa Bank-Trump Tower pinging, or no? @KimZetter @dakami https://t.co/XSDsxE1dfh reageer retweet

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Op dinsdag 31 juli 2018 23:42 schreef Nintex het volgende:
Trump is onderweg naar een nieuwe rally.

Het publiek draait alvast warm

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mahoneysthename twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 23:11:39 .@Acosta is trying to do a stand-up at #trumptampa and the crowd is booing and chanting “CNN sucks” behind him. https://t.co/XiULajB1Li reageer retweet

CNN reporter Jim Acosta heckled at Trump rally

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Emilylgoodin twitterde op dinsdag 31-07-2018 om 23:20:23 Attendees at Trump rally line up behind Jim @Acosta live shot to scream at him “CNN sucks” “tell the truth” and “liar” He calmly spoke to them when he was done https://t.co/bLuZ4ZpfiB reageer retweet

WATCH: CNN's Jim Acosta just responded to Trump Tampa rally hecklers with hilarious comeback

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“I answered a bunch of questions from some of these Trump supporters here about all sorts of things — a lot more questions than the president has taken from us in recent days,” he quipped.

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Acosta twitterde op woensdag 01-08-2018 om 03:32:45 Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy. https://t.co/IhSRw5Ui3R reageer retweet

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thehill twitterde op woensdag 01-08-2018 om 02:58:07 Russian journalists killed while investigating Putin-linked mercenary group https://t.co/Rkt4IrUgZy https://t.co/ZNLmWCt6oL reageer retweet

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SethAbramson twitterde op woensdag 01-08-2018 om 04:18:30 REMEMBER the president's infamous (and only) comment on this topic: "we kill a lot of people too" https://t.co/os8zY9C6cu reageer retweet