In Trumpspeak months = two days. What does that say about his short term memory?
āI think itās the most insulting thing Iāve ever been asked,ā he said. āI think itās the most insulting article Iāve ever had written.ā
Thatās exactly how they were answering the question two years ago, when the question was āHas anybody in your campaign been in contact with any Russians?ā
Have you ever worked for Russia?
I believe the answer to the question is āNOā.
Does he say that?
NO.
āI havenāt actually left the White House in months,ā Trump said at one point, apparently forgetting that heād toured the border just two days earlier, on Thursday.
Everything you need to know about this interview can be found in his ability to lie at will even when he doesnāt have to. Heās sick in the head. Call it what you will but heās simply unfit for the office of president.
It is curious to me that he feels that he needs to dodge these questions instead of just taking his usual option of simply lying through his teeth (or his fingers).
Lies of omission, especially when asked directly of him, are lies as well.
Exactly. Shouldnāt a "no collusion " have been the go-to there?
Maya Wiley reminded folks that Trump received security briefings from Aug 2016 - Nov 2016, in which USIC officials most likely informed him of Russian attacks against the US elections systems. She mentioned that Trump never told the FBI or other USIC about any of the contacts his campaign had with the Russians. That point has been raised before.
However, thereās another point which Iāve raised periodically that should be considered. Did Trump use those briefings to tip the Russians off as to what USIC knew and didnāt know about the Russian election conspiracy and interference campaign?
The Steele Dossier reports that the Russians and the Trump campaign rapidly recalibrated their strategy and cooperation protocols following Manafortās departure from the campaign in Aug 2016. This is when Cohen re-emerged as the key intermediary between Trump and the Russians. What if that recalibration happened not simply or even because of Manafortās departure, but also because of new information that Trump himself learned from the security briefings that he had just started to receive?
That might fit a general description of espionage and perhaps even in law (maybe fitting 18 USC 793 Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information, or 18 USC 794 - Gathering or Delivering Defense Information to Aid Foreign Government?). At any rate, taking information from a classified briefing and informing the identified enemy/bad actor/target of what the US govāt knows feels very ātreasonyā and should be able to fit into some federal crime whether it be a big name one like āespionageā or another one like āconspiracy against the USā. I would love for prosecutors to troll Trump by hitting him with a FARA charge (that he was an undeclared foreign agent for the Russians and didnāt tell Loretta Lynch as required).
An amusing cartoon, but far too much brain matter, even with the wall.
It is almost as if he just doesnāt want people talking about these particular issues at all . . . or maybe exactly as if he just doesnāt want people talking about these particular issues at all. (It may slightly be complicated by the fact that at this point we have a lot of details, verifiable details, that make his simple denials somewhat harder to support, at least for those of us who still have and enjoy the use of our brains.)
and dodged a question on whether he would try to prevent special counsel Robert Muellerās report on Russian election meddling from being made public.
I donāt claim to know how that little dance between OSC, DoJ, the Executive Branch and Congress works when it comes to releasing the findingsā¦but I do know you canāt just tell the American people, āhey, by the way, the FBI is investigating the President to see if heās a Russian stoogeāā¦and then leave us hanging like a chad on a Florida election ballot. No way. Plus it would be just ridiculous to see Trump run for re-election in 2020 with these allegations front and center.
Thereās also the Iraq photo op.
Donāt put much stock in Trumpās response. He often likes to ādangleā a non-definitive statement in order to hype interest about himself by denying people closure about what heās saying. Just another of his cheap tricks to keep interest focused on himself.
For him, āleftā means ānot being forced to do this stupid jobā, no matter where he is.
This guy canāt even hit the softballs lobbed his way by friendly forcesā¦
The bullshit artist is so incompetent that he does not even know when to lieā¦
Trump Dodges Qās On Whether Heās Worked For Russia, If Heāll Suppress Mueller Report
Super interesting that he was served up these direct questions from an in-his-pocket supporter, and did not answer them with a NO. I see that as pretty telling.
More immediately sinister is that William Barrās hearings for AG are on tap this week. That dangerous partisan hack is probably the next Attorney General. He will, undoubtedly, do all he can to impede Muellerās work.
well, yeah, I was thinking what he really meant is āHavenāt been to Mar-a-largoā.
Interesting points.
It would be interesting to know exactly what the IC told Trump in his intelligence briefings and what they held back. And if they planted some misinformation in there to see it it got back to the Russians.
Also, Iām not sure Manafort ever really left the campaign. I donāt think he did. I wonder if the Russians recalibrated their attack based on polling data they may have received from Manafort, Cohen, or someone else? Iām just not clear on the timing of some of the contacts that occurred between the various parties.
āA lot of the people that arenāt getting their checks are letting us know, āWe donāt care, youāve got to solve the crisis at the border,āā
Ok, thatās a lie.
āI think itās the most insulting thing Iāve ever been asked,ā he said. āI think itās the most insulting article Iāve ever had written.ā
Though his gander was up, I was wondering what he said last night.
āIām not keeping anything under wraps, I couldnāt care less.ā
bookmarking
āWell, I canāt tell you because I donāt devote too much time,ā Trump said, without completing the sentence.
āHereās the bottom line: There was no collusion.ā
