Quoting the article as posted , 6:50
âAs special counsel Robert Muellerâs Russia probe intensifies, President Donald Trumpâs attorneys have butt headsâ
They sure do.
Of course itâs a typo. But Iâve said in public here that I donât think TPM should spend money on a copy editor. If the moneyâs there, hire another reporter instead.
Snark off:
I would much prefer that all of Trumpâs lawyers agreed on everything. The existence of disagreement tells me that there is at least a possibility that one or more lawyers may actually be competent.
We can only trust based on the Commander in Cheatâs âbest peopleâ track record that the competent indivdual or individuals will eventually be ruthlessly driven out.
Thereâs a good chance thatâll happen, keeping my fingers crosssed.
Trumpâs team is doing Muellerâs work for him⌠sorting the dirt from the chaffeâŚ
Is there any doubt, the documents they DONâT hand over are the very ones Mueller would likely use to upend The Orange Pretender?
Thereâs a clear confession of guilt in every act of avoidance.
some typos are preciousâŚ
Yup. This one seems to be a bit, well, freudian, ne câest pas?
It seems like thereâs a disagreement between, âLetâs just rip the band-aid off and turn over everything now since Mueller will get it all eventuallyâ and âWe can be successful at hiding, shredding, or altering the most damaging documents because weâre smarter than them, or maybe they just wonât ask.â
âŚwho needs a copy editor when weâve got such diligent Primers ready and willing to pounce on every misplaced participle?
A typo is how I stumbled onto the word âpounditâ while describing Sean Hannity in a mad finger-flurry.
The whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
It would seem to me that withholding documents on behalf of someone who is being investigated for obstruction of justice, would be just more obstructing justice?
Isnât POTUS planning on haranguing the UN about transparency? Wouldnât he be setting a good example by handing over any and all relevant documents? The last thing that we would expect from this administration is lack of transparency. (And yes, I know thatâs ridiculous. My fingers knew it too-- I typed âassministrationâ on the first try.)
âPaging Dr. FreudâŚWhite Courtesy PhoneâŚâ
Two big problems here:
-
McGahn has his own legal issues to deal with, which is why he has hired his own lawyer.
-
Discussing issues like this at lunch, loud enough that a NYT reporter can over hear it? Well, it certainly doesnât scream competent legal team, to put it mildly.
I really need to buy some stock in a popcorn company. Demand is WAY up.
- McGahn has his own legal issues to deal with, which is why he has hired his own lawyer.
MAGA= Make Attorneys Get Attorneys
In fairness, I doubt any lawyer in New York knows how to discuss things quietly.
Just a guess, but Iâll bet New York lawyers thrive in Quiet Rooms.
Matter is already litigated. You turn over everything requested:
I had to read this article 3 times to make sure I understood what the Trump team is thinking. This article is surreal.
Based on past comments, Cobb doesnât think thereâs much to #trumprussia other than perhaps some liability for Flynn and Manafort. The question Iâve pondered: is he right or is he and the Trump legal team out of their depth?
This article gave me the visceral sense that itâs the latter: Cobb, McGahn and Dowd are out of their depth.
The picture from the dinner on Joshâs twitter page says a 1000 words. Itâs a picture of two old, fat Archie Bunker era white guys who are past their prime arguing in the outdoor section of a restaurant over burgers and fries.
I donât think this group of attorneys has any grasp of the extent of Trumpâs corruption or the extent of his disloyalty to the US. They also donât have a grasp of the federal crimes that are at issue here.
They treat this like a civil matter, where one can sometimes stonewall on discovery matters, or a situation like Bill Clintonâs, where the underlying conduct is not criminal. In a criminal matter as serious as this, you donât have the option to hide evidence from the prosecutor, and you certainly donât have the luxury to discuss what to conceal and what to disclose in an open forum like a DC restaurant crawling with reporters, gossip columnists and lobbyists.
The other thing that strikes me is that thereâs really no way for this crew of lawyers to have their hands on all the evidence for all the tracks of this investigation. Many of these incidents giving rise to the investigation took place prior to the inauguration. In addition, everyone else in the WH has lawyers, and there is no sign of a joint defense agreement with the WH. In fact, these other lawyers are telling them to cooperate with Mueller, not with Trump. Many will likely testify adverse to Trump. I also donât think Trump has told his lawyers very much.
Basically, I think Cobb has bought into Trumpâs language about how this is all a âwitch huntâ in order to gain Trumpâs favor and keep him from firing Mueller, but his own limitations of knowledge and skill have him solely focused on the obstruction track and basically nothing else. His knowledge of the obstruction track is incomplete because he has a bad client and a WH full of adverse witnesses. The thing is, the reason Manafort, Jr, Flynn and Kushner and others are in trouble is because they did Trumpâs bidding. Yet, Dowd has no clue what they did. They seem to know less than Kasowitz did. At least Kasowitz saw Kushner as a major liability risk. McGahn (who is probably in self preservation mode), Dowd and Cobb donât see it.
Hello, Acme Shedding and Server Wiping Experts? This is the White House calling. You busy today?
So essentially what theyâre trying to calibrate is the odds that they will need pardoning before this is over?
Does a pardon work on disbarment?