Discussion: Coats: ‘I’m Not In A Position To Either Understand Fully Or Talk About’ Helsinki

[tena]

Awesome.

[rascal_crone]

“But I’m assured,” he continued, “that Trump and Putin simply discussed the adoption of Russian orphans.”

[tiowally]

“I’m not in a position to either understand fully or talk about what happened in Helsinki,” the Director of National Intelligence said.

With that, reassured Americans let out a collective sigh of relief from coast to coast. NOT!

[flamingprogressive]

Nor does he care as long as he got a big tax cut, and gets to touch the hem of the great, white, hope’s cape

[flamingprogressive]

there are no media types willing to ask the hard questions

[birdford]

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told reporters on Thursday that he was not in a position to “either understand fully or talk about” what happened in Helsinki

Sadly, neither is Trump

[lanabill]

Again (and again and again) we must project ourselves back in time, to say, any time between about 1952 and 2016 and imagine anyone in this position making this statement. And it being OK.

[masterlever]

Trump must have dirt on Coats

[crataegus]

Or that, for national security reasons, we can’t tell you that we have a complete transcript of the meeting.

[ottnott]

Someday, if there are historians, one of them will compile a list of people who were made to look good by comparison to the rest of the trump administration.

That’s a tough job now that the local phone companies no longer deliver phone books.

[dominic]

Nobody should be surprised at Coats: this is who he is, as was obvious at least since his kowtowing to Trump after his spontaneous mockery of Trump’s invitation to Putin. He is a coward. It not about “dirt on Coats” or any such nonsense. Coats is a wuss – indeed He’s a Republican, so that is to be expected: very rare is the card-carrying Republican who is not a wuss.

[eisenst]

Hey, sorry Dan, but you are the tarmac and this plane is crashing.

[jacksonhts]

You mean Judge Queeg?

[xpurg8d]

we can’t tell you that we have a complete transcript of the meeting.

That would be true, but I thought no one took notes, there was only Putin/Trump/two translators present, and there is no transcript. If Unless they’ve come up with a transcript based on something other than what either Putin or Trump “recollects” it means we don’t know what happened.

[readerfromcalif]

Snark aside, at least we know that Dan Coats knows that he’s dealing with an idiot president.

[denisj]

What is China doing in relation to treasury bonds?

[betorah]

But is he a dentist? That’s the only skill set necessary to read the body language during that public ass-whooping from the boss man.

Dentist? Sure it’s not a proctologist that’s needed?

[eggrollian]

China has sold off some treasuries over the past six months, but retaining them leaves them with a “nuclear option.” It’s complicated.

And the perennial threat that China would sell its Treasuries. That could happen as a byproduct of a decision by China to push its currency down—if China signals that it wants a weaker currency, the market would sell yuan for dollars, and controlling the pace of depreciation would require that China sell reserves. Or could happen even if China maintained its current basket peg and shifted its portfolio around—selling Treasury notes for bills, or selling Treasuries and buying (gulp) Bunds (if it can find them—it might end up buying French bonds instead) or JGBs.

[junebug]

I haven’t given up hope that someone on our side managed to get a recording device into the room, perhaps on the translator, perhaps with the cooperation of the Finns, or even on Trump’s HUGE self without his knowledge.

[irasdad]

I haven’t given up hope that someone on our side managed to get a recording device into the room, perhaps…even on Trump’s HUGE self without his knowledge.

One word: ProctoCam™.