Post-Midnight Open Thread: Russophilic Nesting Dolts
Trump lawyer Michael Cohen confirms meeting Ukrainian, denies delivering peace plan to Mike Flynn https://t.co/w18qbncuxu pic.twitter.com/wS0R3O1JWN
— NBC Investigations (@NBCInvestigates) February 20, 2017
Adam will no doubt keep explaining these spy-vs-spy shenanigans far more cogently, but I couldn’t resist the chance to re-up the last video clip here…
… The Times reported that the meeting was called to discuss a peace plan being pushed by a Ukrainian lawmaker, Andrey Artemenko, who is associated with a former Ukrainian leader backed by Russian president Vladimir Putin and advised by Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman.
Manafort is the subject of an FBI inquiry over his Ukraine dealings, and the FBI is also investigating whether any Trump associates colluded with the Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
In an interview with NBC News Monday, Michael Cohen confirmed that Felix Sater, a former Trump associate with a criminal past, asked him to come to a meeting in New York last month, and brought along Artemenko.
“I acknowledge that the brief meeting took place, but emphatically deny discussing this topic or delivering any documents to the White House and/or General Flynn,” Cohen said. “I didn’t see Gen. Flynn while I was at the White House, and I didn’t spend two seconds talking about this, not even one second.”
The Times told NBC News that it stood by its story, saying Cohen told the newspaper he did take a sealed envelope to Flynn’s office….
Senate just sent word to White House to preserve records tied to Russia ties. Wonder what happened to the envelope with the 'peace plan'?
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 20, 2017
It's either a half-baked sting op from a known FBI informant that Cohen fell for hook, line and sinker…or this was Putin's big long con.
— A Finely Tuned ?????? (@ZeddRebel) February 20, 2017
The 'plan' was to remove Poroshenko, let Putin keep Crimea in perpetuity and lift all sanctions. https://t.co/d6yQOvAw1h
— A Finely Tuned ?????? (@ZeddRebel) February 21, 2017
It shouldn't be called a peace plan. It's a conspiracy to blackmail/topple Ukraine's gov't and give Putin everything https://t.co/CgdbH132vm
— A Finely Tuned ?????? (@ZeddRebel) February 21, 2017
NICE JOB, REPUBLICANS!
For context on this story and this denial, remember, the guy in this video is Michael Cohen https://t.co/gwudewQZ6A
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 20, 2017
I have no comment on this. It is uncommentable.
So I got this cool travel pillow from Amazon called the J-Pillow. It seems quite comfy, but it looks like you’re being attacked by one of the facehuggers from “Aliens” while you’re using it.
When you’re not using it, it looks like a peni$.
Seriously comfy, tho.
At the risk of getting Omnes all upset, Trump and all his minions are traitors.
Also, my Kindle book was really good. New Lisa Kleypas. That’s what I was doing all evening instead of hanging out with you jackals.
@Villago Delenda Est: Well, if you want to be technical about it … :-)
Kellyanne Conway is “brilliant.” — M. Cohen
Says who?
What she does best is lie, but her lies are so transparent that it wouldn’t make any sense to call her a brilliant liar. I’m trying to figure out what about Conway could be considered “brilliant.” Not her eye makeup.
By the way, has anyone heard from Conway recently. For awhile there she was highly visible, but since Morning Joe and Mika dissed her I haven’t seen or heard from her. The world is a better place without Kellyanne Conway.
I’m so tired my jaw won’t even drop. Going to bed. Can you be both a traitor and a clown? I suppose so.
@TriassicSands:
Consistency?
@Villago Delenda Est: In that spirit, define traitor.
@Villago Delenda Est: In that spirit, define traitor.
@Villago Delenda Est:
Picking at this open sore a bit further, can you be a traitor without committing treason?
Wonder if the ‘sealed envelope’ had money in it. Agents aren’t free.
If you use the broader definition of “a person who betrays their own country”, then, yes, they’re all traitors if this stuff is true. Whether they committed legal treason is a different matter, but other forms of treasonous acts are covered by other statutes, such as the Logan Act, the Espionage Act and the Foreign Agent Registration Act. Conspiring to violate these acts, and obstructing investigations , and lying to investigators are also crimes. In short, even without technically committing “treason”, these guys can be guilty of a bucket load of treasonous acts.
@amk: Dealing to have an allied government overthrown by a hostile power, I assume.
@Villago Delenda Est:
He already went to bed. We can use the word as loosely as we like.
@Millard Filmore: Not to (uh) pick at that sore, but it’s kinda fun, so … here goes.
(1) sort of definitionally, a traitor commits treason.
But (2) then what is treason? Well, there’s the legal definition. And in the US, that definition comes from the Constitution. O^2 is completely right about that.
Does that change anything? It didn’t for the Rs, and they made great hay out of charging Hillary and other Dems with treason over and over and over. Made for great TV. And a commonsense definition that most laymen would accept, certainly includes what these Mstryoskha Dolts are up to, eh? But I’ll go further than “it’s a good way to explain it to people”. I claim, most people (and Omnes too) understand the difference between what is chargeable, and what really happened.
No, it’s not chargeable as treason. But it’s treason.
@TriassicSands:
” Says who? ”
I think that’s spelled ‘sez hoo!?’
@Chet Murthy: Has anyone in the US ever been convicted of treason? I’m too lazy to go look it up, thought some one of you jackals would know.
@opiejeanne: Quite a few. The three most famous ones were John Brown and the two ladies known as Tokyo Rose and Axis Sally.
Wasn’t he the guy who supposedly met with the Russians in Prague during the campaign and trump tried to prove it was not so by taking a photo of his passport cover?
@Mnemosyne:
How is it different from other travel pillows?
@Villago Delenda Est:
Tell the truth!
So what Trump means by “Obama was weak on Russia about Crimea” means is Obama didn’t take a cash payoff from Russia?