Guys, I’m starting to think there’s something to this Buzzfeed story about Trump suborning perjury and obstructing justice:
Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer: So you're saying the president did not tell Michael Cohen to do that?
Trump White House aide Hogan Gidley: I'm telling you the president refuses to give credibility to it.
Hemmer: That was not a denial of my question.
Gidley: No, but but but… pic.twitter.com/n5gxbbpg54
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 18, 2019
Hold up, Gidley — let a pro show you how to deflect:
Gingrich dismisses Buzzfeed News as a "grocery store tabloid" after bombshell Cohen story pic.twitter.com/7ds1ya6oN4
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 18, 2019
Except last week Trump said actual supermarket tabloid rag The National Enquirer is more credible than The Washington Post, and The National Enquirer was running interference for Trump during the 2016, as we now know.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the only one who remembers the go-to strategy of straight-up lying:
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says the Buzzfeed report that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a proposed Moscow project is "categorically false" https://t.co/fwhdLwgQqw pic.twitter.com/uM7BFE33WG
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 18, 2019
Well, lying is her full-time job. Anyhoo, I hesitate to say it, but this feels something like a turning point. We’ll see.
germy
Gingrich dismisses Buzzfeed News as a “grocery store tabloid” after bombshell Cohen story
Also Gingrich: “Did you see that National Enquirer headline about Hillary Clinton’s terminal illness?”
MattF
@germy: Did Gingrich say the story was false?
NotMax
Her staff conveniently listed it on her agenda under Recipes, so yes, it is categorically false. //
Martin
You’d think by now the press would yell ‘squirrel!’ every time she lied, but no…
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Yeah. I think we’ll look back on this as a far, far bigger deal than any of us fully understand right now.
chris
I’ve been savoring this news so much since last night. ITMFA!
chopper
i actually know the founder/owner of buzzfeed and as much as i like to fuck with him over all the bullshit listicle stuff they’re always putting out, they actually honestly give a solid shit about the news section. this is some solid reporting and they’re not going to back off it.
JPL
I hope your instincts are better than mine. When the republican senate voted to lift the sanctions against Russia I lost hope.
We know that Russia hacked into the RNC and other emails, but we still don’t know what they got.
Jeffro
Feels like a turning point to me too, as certainly several people around trumpov would have known/heard/been present when trumpov has told Cohen (and probably many others) to lie for him. And Mueller would have all of that – he’s talked to most of those ‘many others’, and he has Cohen’s tapes and testimony.
One thing I want to point out, noted first by Josh Marshall at TPM: trumpov appears to be playing a game of chicken with Cohen and in today’s tweet (about ‘look at his father in law!’) he upped the ante. He clearly wants Cohen to either recant or to pay a heavy price for bringing him down.
So…what does trumpov know about Cohen that makes Cohen vulnerable at this point? What’s Josh referring to here? (Frankly, I dunno…I couldn’t get through the paywall! LOL) But I can hazard a guess at two things. One, trumpov knows Cohen is all mobbed up…and as far as I can tell, that is the part where Cohen’s cooperation with Mueller does not extend. Cohen is willing to talk about trumpov, but not his mob connections. Trumpov surely senses this, and thinks that somehow disclosing this, or threatening to, will save him.
Second, as Josh hinted at, trumpov may well be trying to incite violence against Cohen and Cohen’s family…not just from mobsters who want Cohen to keep quiet, but from Putin’s people as well. (Not that there isn’t significant overlap between the two anyway). And he so very badly lacks restraint that between now and Feb 7th, it would not shock me terribly to see trumpov hinting even more strongly at this.
We’re going to see some amazing things happen in the weeks to come. But at this point I have no doubt that trumpov won’t even finish his term.
MattF
So, who gets pardons? Ivanka, I’m sure, but who else? Manafort?
kindness
Sure would like Mueller’s data to leak starting in 3, 2, 1……
jl
If the Buzzfeed story is accurate, we have something that could very credibly be put on a bill of impeachment that has very serious historical precedent for being very seriously impeachment-worthy crime (Nixon).
What we also had in Watergate was the crimes that explained why it was necessary for Nixon to order his flunkies to lie to Congress. I think that created what Congress considered to be an acceptable popular consensus that impeachment was justified. I don’t think we have a clear picture of a larger crime that explains why Trump ordered Cohen to lie. There may not be one, at least not one Trump is personally involved in. Trump just might be that complete an idiot. But I’d guess not, there is some larger thing that explains the lie.
So, we are at a turning point in that our asinine and corrupt corporate national news outlets feel they have permission now, or gives them courage in face of reactionary Trumpist attacks, to take seriously the idea that Trump is first and foremost a crook, and that is an actual issue, real ‘news’.
I don’t think we have a clear enough picture of what the larger crime was, or is, yet. That will be the real turning point, and maybe one that can tell us exactly how implicated national GOP power structure is involved in Russian pay-for-play. We need more details on the larger crime, if there is one.
Or it may just be a series of blatant, but ad hoc, Trump emolument clause violations, and we just have to get a clearer list of countries.
That is my two cents.
NotMax
@Jeffro
Let us take a moment to remember “I hire only the best people.”
kindness
@MattF: She’s better off in jail. She’d have to wear a kevlar vest everywhere and that is just so unfashionable.
MattF
@kindness: I think the big question is who leaks when the report is finished. Everyone is more or less assuming that it will leak ASAP— but who knows.
Mike in NC
Mueller is gonna need the proverbial bigger boat to land not only the Trump Crime Family, but all of the peripheral players and enablers like Hannity, Gingrich, Sanders, Giuliani, McConnell, Ryan, Christie, Dershowitz, etc.
wvng
@jl: the larger crime would be an agreement between Trump and Russia that he would end sanctions on the Russian banks that were lined up to finance the Trump branded building.
jl
@Jeffro: Multiple reports place Cohen’s statements in the role of providing confirmation, tying together pieces that would have been tied together sooner or later anyway. They got Cohen’s trove of cell phones and records, after all.
So, use of Cohen’s statements and testimony was more for efficiency in wrapping the investigation up in a timely way. Not critical to the ultimate findings. Cohen ‘relenting’ won’t do much at this point. But, we already know Trump is a vast and endless fool.
hells littlest angel
Wow, are we at another turning point already?
Jeffro
@MattF: This may have already been posted but apparently Ivanka issued a statement through her spokesperson that she knew nothing about any of this, not even minimally involved, etc etc.
Peeps, I do believe the rats are about to start eating each other. Something like that, anyway.
jl
@wvng: Looking more and more like that. Buzzfeed report also seems to confirm that the ROI on the Trump Russian hotel deal was unjustifiably immense. One deal worth more than a decade of Trump hotels deals combined. If true, that would explain a lot. That would be one, but perhaps not the only, big cash flow for Trump’s pay-off.
laura
Shit’s getting real.
There’s a palpable tectonic shift occuring.
I have to believe that Republicans are starting to weigh the benefits of abandoning him in hopes of saving their skins. What the “news” media does is unknown except for those like the Atlantic and Charlie Pierce who are calling upon Congress to begin bringing Articles of Impeachment as part of their Article I duties to protect the nation.
Here we go…
Baud
Obstructng Justice
Suborning perjury
Harboring terrorists
Committing treason
Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The possibilities are endless.
jl
@hells littlest angel: Crooked paths of crime and tangled webs of lies have many turning points, little grasshopper.
zhena gogolia
@hells littlest angel:
This road has more twists than the Pacific Coast Highway.
Kay
While it is true the whole country knows that everyone Trump hires is a liar, we’re all thinking Mueller has more than Cohen- he would need more than Cohen because…we all know that everyone Trump hires is a liar.
That goes without saying. They can just roll that into anything that is revealed going forward- they’re all liars. We know.
If it was just another Trump hire lying about something it would be “one of them opening their mouths” therefore not news.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
We’re on the Highway to Hell.
zhena gogolia
@laura:
Obligatory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvqJ1mTkEuY
JPL
@MattF: I’m not sure about Ivanka, but Mueller can definitely be brought up on state charges. I think he’s more concerned about Putin.
GregB
This is all a distraction. We should be thanking Trump for totally destroying ISIS who are currently leaving their prayer mats at the US border with Mexico.
jl
@Baud: But have we checked into the Hotel Trumpafornia?
zhena gogolia
@JPL:
Donny? Is that you?
Kay
Incidentally this is true in all criminal enterprises. They’re all criminals. If the fact that cooperating witnesses were themselves often also criminals scuttled investigations we wouldn’t have any investigations at all. They’re not honest. That’s why they were inside the criminal enterprise. There won’t be any honest, upstanding witnesses to the operations of Trump Inc. People like that don’t work there.
Ohio Mom
@zhena gogolia: I suspect spellcheck has struck again.
lgerard
I find Hogan Gidley every bit as punchable as Stephen Miller
little ponce
Keith P
Hell of an infrastructure week, this one was.
joel hanes
@Jeffro:
trumpov may well be trying to incite violence against Cohen
Cohen’s arm currently in a sling; he’s got a shiner, and his hand has abrasions.
He “fell”, I suppose. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
debbie
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Hogwash. It’s very crowded over in this corner filled with people who know just how much of a big fucking deal this is. Most of us, I daresay, knew this moment would come even as he and Melania glided down the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his candidacy.
Kay
Why did Donald Trump tell Cohen to lie about Donald Trump’s meetings with Russians?
“Meeting with Russians about a business deal” isn’t illegal. Promoting his sleazy business enterprises while president isn’t illegal either, apparently, since the whole Trump family have done it since the moment he took office.
So why lie?
Steeplejack
@jl:
Cohen’s testimony may be an important way to get certain facts on the record without compromising intel “sources and methods.” I.e., “We knew this before, but we’d prefer not to say how we knew.”
jl
@debbie: I didn’t know. I could not imagine Trump was that childish, stupid and ignorant. I thought he was a smart enough swindler to ride what previous administrations have built and get hundreds of millions that way, through ‘honest graft’. But, my God, the guy is an idiot. A lethally dangerous idiot in his current position, but still a pathetic idiot.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Isn’t that in PV?
MattF
@Kay: I’d guess that Trump didn’t want his business dealings with Putin et. al. to be investigated.
piratedan
@Kay: c’mon Kay… you know…. after publicly stating and his campaign publicly stating and his transition committee publicly stating that he had no dealings with Russia it was a way to paint HRC as a liar and the IC lackeys as liars and it also allowed Vlad to laugh up his sleeve, so it served its purpose at the time and in return, Vlad and his buddies have the money tap turned back on and DJT and his family get to wet their collective beaks….
jl
@Steeplejack: But even so, getting Cohen to ‘relent’ somehow is useless at this point. Trump is really stupid to draw public attention to even more dirt that he’s been involved in. But, hey, let Trump proceed as he sees best. I’m fine with it, personally.
JPL
@zhena gogolia: hahaha Mueller on my mind. I didn’t even catch that.
debbie
@Baud:
¿Que? What did I miss?
Betty Cracker
@chopper: And the “Choose Toppings for This Pizza and We’ll Tell You How Tall Your Future Spouse Is” crap keeps the yoots visiting that site, so maybe they absorb a little news too. It’s not a bad thing! :)
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Another song comes to mind for Trump. Maybe someone can arrange to play it for him at some venue?
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?
Subtle innuendos follow
There must be something on the inside
Raven
Anybody got a Apple Watch 4?
JPL
@Betty Cracker: You mean it doesn’t..
Yarrow
@Jeffro: Kremlin Barbie is a liar and a traitor. It’ll be her turn in the barrel soon. Emitting vacuous word salad while sitting very still and twisting her face into something resembling a smile isn’t going to save her this time.
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack:
OT, James Norton is leaving Grantchester!
Raven
@zhena gogolia: When he decided not to marry that wonderful woman he died to me.
Raven
@zhena gogolia:
chopper
@Betty Cracker:
i figure if all that shit pays for the real journalism then hell yes.
zhena gogolia
@Raven:
Yes, that was sad. (I assume you mean Amanda and not Hildegarde.)
trollhattan
@Mike in NC:
This is one time I encourage incarceration at a facility operated by a prison industry corporation. All of them can savor the free market cost-effectiveness.
Raven
@zhena gogolia: Yes! She deserved better but you know how those nutty vets are!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
wouldn’t this be the ideal time to subpoena his tax returns, while he’s already reeling and losing support?
I don’t get why it wasn’t done as soon as the new congress convened (assuming it hasn’t)
Quinerly
@joel hanes: I read that Cohen had previously scheduled shoulder surgery. The blackeye is questionable. He has bags under his eyes/dark circles. Think it was the NY Post that had a mention of shoulder surgery.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Probably waiting for the shutdown to end so the focus will be on the tax returns.
SFAW
@Baud:
“Litt’rin’ [and they all moved away from me on the Group W bench] … and creatin’ a nuisance” [and they all moved back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench]
Raven
@Quinerly: His lawyer was just on MSNBC and that’s what he said.
Raven
@SFAW: I want to kill. . .
Quinerly
@Raven: I step away from MSNBC for 5 minutes to find Poco and there’s breaking news…… ?
Raven
@Quinerly: Lanny Davis and his main thing was to talk about fat fuck threatening family.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
WTF?!
“Sidney is upset as events take an unexpected turn.”
joel hanes
@Quinerly:
I stand debunked.
thanks.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Raven: Josh Marshall has put his piece on Cohen’s FIL behind the paywall, but as I recall the old man was trump’s first connection to the Russian mob, that’s how trump met Cohen. I kind of doubt that’s a thread he really wants people pulling on, but all he knows is to lash out.
Quinerly
@joel hanes: It’s easy to jump to conclusions since we are off the map and through the looking glass as someone really smart said….
Quinerly
@Raven: been meaning to ask… How was the Spotted Cat? Did you make it to Checkpoint Charlie’s? When I was going to NOLA 2-3 times a year the Cat was my favorite hangout. Love that little area around Frenchman.
JPL
@zhena gogolia: Is he returning to Happy Valley?
That was quite the transformation from Tommy to Sydney.
I hadn’t seen Raven’s comment yet, and I just don’t know how many times you can flip back and forth.
Yarrow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Rolling Stone has a pretty good summary of Cohen, his family and the family he married into. This section is about his uncle and his father-in-law:
Gravenstone
@trollhattan: No thanks. Too easy to bribe someone to let them run (or let other prisoners have access to them). Supermax or bust. Or I could be convinced to convert Gitmo to Club Fed – Republican edition.
TS (the original)
@lgerard: The name is punchable & I haven’t yet looked at the person.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Trump is playing chess and only he knows the next move.
Bill Arnold
@jl:
I recall noticing a behavior shift by DJT toward Putin immediately after the Cohen guilty plea and the subsequent Peskov reveal of related emails:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-30/russia-s-peskov-shares-2016-emails-from-ex-trump-lawyer-cohen
It was like this (Trump Tower Moscow dates) was one of Putin’s main leverage (blackmail) items on DJT, and it was revealed/Cohen destroyed it.
Does anyone recall more, or similar? Trying to find the relevant news items.
JPL
@Steeplejack: I’m so disappointed that Norton likes Tommy more than Sydney. That is just so wrong.
Sydney was no saint though.
JPL
I assume trump is resigning tomorrow because he tweeted this
Ella in New Mexico
Oh lookey lokey over there the President has big news in store for us on Saturday afternoon
Ella in New Mexico
@JPL: Crap! Beat me to it ?
trollhattan
AOC recommends John Dingell’s Twitter account. Right again, AOC. A sample:
Jim, Foolish Literalist
? Gold plated crapper?
Barbara
@Ella in New Mexico: A Saturday afternoon in which the entire upper northeast quadrant of the United States will be suffering from a gigantic snow and ice storm.
piratedan
@Ella in New Mexico: my guess is he’ll double down and declare a national emergency any-fucking-way and will say something stupid like the government will stay closed until the wall is completed.
Ruckus
@Gravenstone:
l agree. I’ve been to Gitmo and it’s a swell place. That was prior to the lavish accommodations built in the last 20 or so years, but I can’t imagine that ruined the ambiance much at all. And running? Yeah that’s not really an option. Unless one is a really good swimmer. And I mean really, really, really long distance fucking good. And swimming is by far your best option.
smintheus
I really wish Democrats would be a lot more circumspect about this report by Jason Leopold because he has massive problems of credibility. I take all his claims with a huge grain of salt. If the facts are as he claims, then that info will come out soon enough…either confirmed by more credible reporters or in any case revealed by Mueller. If the facts are not (fully) as reported, then the road to impeaching Trump becomes a lot more difficult because Democrats are going to feel that they have already been burned.
In fact, Leopold and Cormier can’t seem to get their story straight today about which evidence if any they have seen to back up their 2 sources’ claims. Cormier says he has seen no evidence. Leopold, slippery as ever, says or implies that he kinda sorta has seen some (hand wave) sort of evidence.
Long before Leopold made his click-bait claim back in 2006 about Karl Rove’s supposed indictment, I had learned not to trust him. Sometimes, maybe often, he tells the truth and has the goods. But ‘sometimes’ isn’t good enough.
Steeplejack
@Ella in New Mexico:
Screwed the link. “President’s big news.”
Ruckus
@JPL:
He doesn’t know the next move, he thinks he knows the next move. And he thinks he can bully the chessmen to do whatever he wants because for him there are no rules, other than cheating is accepted. But it’s not his game, his board, his men, his rules, or his turn.
Dmbeaster
What the press should also stress in pressing Trump people for a response. Whether or not Trump directed him to lie, he knew Cohen was lying to Congress, and what did he do about it? Happily accepted the benefit of Cohen’s lie, as did all the other members of his family.
Brachiator
Exactamundo!
These shameless criminal goobers need to be thrown under the goddam jail.
different-church-lady
@germy: Ah yes, I remember when respected conservative gossip bauble of record Drudge Report was completely wrong about the blue dress…
Jeffro
@joel hanes: I think I read where he had shoulder surgery (which explains the sling and hand – that’s where they put the IV in) and the shiner was a trick of the light? But let’s see
Enhanced Voting Techniques
The shut down is the turning point, this just allows to not look like they are upset they aren’t getting their white welfare.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: As of now Sunday Morning News Shows would cover obstruction of justice. Trump is a master of changing the subject, so he will declare a national emergency. The republicans will kiss his ass in praise.
Bill Arnold
@chopper:
Sort of like how, in reverse, the WSJ real news pages pay for their editorial page.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Expect an announcement of a massive new tariff. On rugs.
chopper
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
“the castle…AAAUUGH”
Sebastian
Serious question: Can Congress force Sarah Huckabee-Sanders to appear and testify under oath?
Because by golly, I’d pay good money to see that.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@JPL: Trump working on the weekends? The horror!
Ladyraxterinok
@Yarrow: US media massiively betrayed public by failing to publicize widely and often the sleaze of US and Russian mob ties Trump is covered with!!
WaterGirl
@Raven: That was really disappointing.
JPL
@Ladyraxterinok: Her emails! She also was dying or something like that.
chopper
@JPL:
i’m sure he will.
Seanly
Trump just has to limp past this weekend and the remainder of his term won’t count as full term for purposes of Pence finishing it. And what a complete shitshow it would be if Trump resigned in the middle of a Federal shutdown.
I’ve thought one scenario was that the Republicans only hang with Trump until he’s President for 2 years and a day. The next 2 years won’t count as a term for President Pence. The Republican fever dream would be 10 years of President Pence. Now I don’t think Pence would be able to get elected to his first full term in 2020, but Republicans probably think they can do that.
Ladyraxterinok
@smintheus: Did he push the ‘Fitzgerald is ready to bring down W gang’? The ‘Fitzmas is coming’ story?
Martin
@Seanly:
No, they don’t. While I have no doubt they would be thrilled to have him as President, they aren’t so deluded as to think he could get elected.
Mary G
@Ruckus: Comments like this make me wish for ability to upvote it. Exactly not his turn. He’s a two-year-old playing chess with Gary K.
JPL
@chopper: It could work. Federal employees get paid and all is good in the world. The republicans will once again kiss his ass. Dictator in chief.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Barbara: and our very stable genius has scheduled his announcement to coincide with Rams-Saints playoff game
Martin
So, we’re either getting our national emergency, or Trump is outsourcing operation of the country to Mexico.
Yarrow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oooh…will they break in to the game coverage to show it? That’ll be popular. Heh.
Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Both games are Sunday, not tomorrow.
Just One More Canuck
@JPL: trump is playing Candyland
JPL
Truthfully who can keep track of what day it is.
Quinerly
Mrs. Pompeo be traveling with her hubby. Unpaid staffers making the arrangements. “At a time when most State Department staff weren’t allowed to travel for work and some weren’t even allowed to use their work phones, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s wife Susan embarked on an eight-day trip with her husband, requiring unpaid staffers to prepare and support her across the Middle East.”
https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/01/18/politics/pompeo-wife-middle-east-trip/
Uncle Cosmo
@jl:
..
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Martin: ach, I blame twitter Nixon
Uncle Cosmo
@lgerard: “You may be fired when we’re ready, Gidley.”
JPL
@Just One More Canuck: He was getting 10,000 dollar checks for Christmas. He was always above the Candyland game. He could have bought Candyland.
Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Look, nobody is going to fault you for assuming the stupidest possible plan from Trump. It’s just bad luck that it’s the 2nd stupidest possible plan.
trollhattan
@Sebastian:
Plus all the popcorn if it’s Sen Harris.
“Before you answer, ma’am, I’ll remind you you are under oath.”
Quinerly
Totally OT. NY restaurant has banned single women from eating at the bar. No problem for single men, though.
https://guestofaguest.com/new-york/restaurants/upper-east-side-restaurant-nello-bans-single-women-from-eating-at-the-bar?fbclid=IwAR3312z_Zv6Ha6ClMBUetvCGn384r_ai3laSCZs55jaT3hrgMfyMdfOS9mA
MisterForkbeard
@smintheus: I get what you’re saying here, but this doesn’t logically follow:
If Leopold says he may have seen evidence and Cormier says he hasn’t, there’s no contradiction and no “story to get straight”. But you’re kind of barking up the wrong tree here – most Democrats (especially elected ones) have said “If this is true, Trump needs to be resigned or get impeached.” The ‘IF” is very important there.
JPL
@Quinerly: Nothing matters.
Uncle Cosmo
@Kay: Proverbs 28:1, adapted for the screed:
Jim, Foolish Literalist
what about Ann Coulter and trump’s friend Jim who’s afraid to go to Paris?
Brachiator
@JPL:
Is he feeling frisky enough to try for his “national emergency” Hail Mary?
Fox News and the Sunday pundit shows must be happy as pigs in slop to get more crap to bloviate about.
Mandalay
As far as I know, there had never been any running event at any distance in which a woman has run faster than any man. Well that has changed:
I realize that there is no Olympic event for running 268 miles, and the race is not run that often, but a woman now holds the record, and she beat 125 men to win. And she’s a working mom who didn’t even start running until she was 25. It’s a mind boggling achievement to me.
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Dear lord, the collective IQ of a mid-priced toaster oven.
divF
@Quinerly:
They are serving as bearers for her palanquin.
Seanly
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Hmmm, there is a notable lack of input from the House of Representatives. I would bet that they try to pin this major failship on Democrats. “We put forward a bill with the money Trump wanted and Democrats voted against it. They must hate America and our Federal workers.”
JPL
@Brachiator: That was my second guess because he needs to change the subject for the Sunday Morning Talk Shows. This lawbreaking crap is not helping him. the national emergency thing is probably lawbreaking also.
Erin Burnette said the pres is trying to change the subject.. duh and Pompeo’s wife is accompanying him on travels.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve heard other people advise caution about Leopold, and no other networks are confirming the story, but if we’re talking about prepared testimony, I can easily imagine our phone-addicted president discussing it with Cohen
Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh good lord is Pelosi going to twist the knife on that crew.
Quinerly
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: just read a Daily Beast piece that said Dowd and Trump still talk once a week. Dowd was bragging about their chats on some RWNJ radio show.
JPL
@Martin: He’s going to kill the kittens unless she agrees, right?
Jeffro
@Martin: It is kinda funny…kinda…how Pence is like Even Dumber Ford, and trumpov is like Extremely Dumber and Corrupt Nixon
Martin
@JPL: I’m guessing they’re going to propose cutting off federal funding to California or some idiotic shit like that. Build us a wall or we’ll set the atmosphere on fire. This is like a live action Pinky and the Brain extended episode.
smintheus
@Ladyraxterinok: Yes. Leopold claimed while the investigation was still ongoing that he had sources who knew that Karl Rove had already been indicted. It was absurd.
@MisterForkbeard: If they’re working together, they should both be aware of the supposed evidence seen. Cormier’s response to a question implies he knew nothing about any such evidence. Leopold was vague and sketchy. That seems like a clue something isn’t quite solid here. Also the fact that the range of accompanying details you’d expect in a well reported story are absent.
I do think far too many Democrats are rushing toward the shiny object. We first need a credible investigation to determine whether that shiny object actually exists. I’m pleased that the media and Democrats in DC are suddenly more willing to treat impeachment as a valid path forward, but I’m afraid that if that willingness is tied too closely to Leopold’s report then the momentum for impeachment could be lost if it turns out to be another of his phantasms.
Uncle Cosmo
@Ruckus: Needy Amin is like Gerry Ford in Rich Little’s classic audio rendition of the (then) 4 surviving Presidents playing poker:
Redshift
@Martin:
Republicans in general probably aren’t, but I bet evangelicals are.
The Midnight Lurker
Can we start a GoFundMe page to hire some constitutional lawyers to draft articles of impeachment? You know, help move this thing along?
Mandalay
@joel hanes:
That reminds me of a much more innocent time, back in 2008 when Charlie Rose had a shiner. Rose’s story was also that he fell (when trying to catch a dropped laptop), and his bullshit story was generally accepted.
With hindsight, I find it far more likely that Rose was trying to rape someone, who hurled the nearest object she could find at him. And no, I am not joking. There’s no way Rose’s face ended up looking like that after trying to catch a laptop.
TS (the original)
@Martin: Maybe trump is going to ask McConnell to bring a bill to the floor – to show he is the adult – and will allow the workers to be paid. The media will then – of course – say “THIS is when he became presidential”
BruceFromOhio
Impeached or imprisoned, that’s when it will feel like a fucking turning point.
And fuck Newt Gingrich. That fucking reptile needs a good stomping.
Suzanne
@trollhattan:
Rotating tag AHOY.
trollhattan
@BruceFromOhio:
I am objectively pro Newt-stomp. Let’s make this happen, then collect Ken Starr, Giuliani and Dersh for Stomp #2, Liars’ Boogaloo.
smintheus
@Mandalay: In extremely long endurance events, women runners have distinct physiological advantages over men.
Jeffro
So what do we think this “deal” made…between GOP preznit* and GOP turtle and Jared will consist of? Why do I have a feeling it’s something like
“Give us everything we want, and we’ll let Nancy fly to Afghanistan…TWICE!”
or
“Bow to all our demands x eleventy, and we will stop caging kids”
Shorter: it’s going to be laughable on its face.
The Turtle’s mind must be on overload trying to figure out how trumpov goes down (possibly pulling the GOP with him) without taking ol’ ruble-loving Mitch down with him as well.
TS (the original)
@Martin:
They didn’t think trump would get elected.
Suzanne
Twitter sez that the Suborner-in-Chief will declare a state of emergency in order to distract from today’s bad news.
JPL
Mueller’s office came out and said that BuzzFeed’s article was not accurate. hmmm
The Dangerman
@trollhattan:
I’m calling shenanigans on “mid-priced”; we’re talking bargain bin stuff here.
ETA: Maybe one of those Easy Bake Ovens, but no better than a 40 watt bulb
Suzanne
@Jeffro: Pelosi has been amazing so far, much respect.
I don’t know what Dems can do if/when a state of emergency is declared.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Buzzkill.
TS (the original)
@Quinerly: Mrs Mnuchin is upset.
Quinerly
@JPL: Robert Mueller’s office is disputing BuzzFeed News’ story: “BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate”
Geoduck
Only slightly related, but speaking of tabloids- while in the checkout line I was interested to note that the Globe has a headline piece slagging, of all people, Rush Limbaugh. Maybe they view him as Just Another Celebrity, but it would seem to be taking a chance with angering the sort of people who actually pay for tabloids.
Quinerly
@TS (the original): she has been very quiet lately. Have we heard from her since the eclipse? ?
JPL
@Quinerly: I wonder what’s not accurate?
Uncle Cosmo
@Mandalay:
Sure there is: The laptop slips off the far edge of the desk, you instinctively jump up from the chair to catch it, your foot slips out from under you, & your eye socket bangs into the lip of the desktop. Near-instant shiner, especially for an auld phart who probably breaks capillaries when he blinks.
NOT saying that’s what happened, just that it’s not all that ridiculous a possibility. I have many times banged into a kitchen cabinet door left half-open when my face was too close to trigger the ranging facility of binocular vision.
Elizabelle
@Just One More Canuck: Chutes and Ladders.
It may look like a ladder to Trump. But it is a chute, most assuredly, and his ride down is coming.
Quinerly
@JPL: https://www.axios.com/muellers-investigation-goes-on-the-record-to-deny-buzzfeed-report-a07f65a6-611a-42de-adf6-91f337ddfdf1.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=1100
Kirk Spencer
@trollhattan: On behalf of the toaster, I request an apology. ///s
Yarrow
@Jeffro: Mitch is thinking, “Keep me out of this” but there’s nothing he can do when Twitler opens his yap.
Cheryl Rofer
This is a big deal. Mueller’s office never speaks.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JPL: so the Buzzfeed story is the new pee tape, the reed they cling to while braying about fake news and false accusations. Donnie Jr still typed “I love it!” when told (reminded?) of the Russian gov’t’s desire to aid the trump campaign
Mike in Pasadena
I realize this thread is old and I couldn’t get to it earlier and still haven’t read all of it because the rain finally stopped in So Cal so you know, yard work intervened. Here’s the question that may have been discussed. Was this release of information planned to take the wind out of the sails of Cohen’s testimony on this subject? Who benefits from this news being released? Does the release of this info now, before Cohen returns to testify before the House and before Mueller’s report is submitted to the AG, help or hurt action based on the Mueller report? Shorter version: What impact is the release of this information going to have on the progress of Mueller’s work and an investigation by the House? Okay, back to the thread….
Yarrow
@Quinerly: Doesn’t actually surprise me. I am skeptical when a second news organization can’t confirm a big story like that by the end of the next day. Also, the reporters could have got played. We’re in hall of mirrors territory and they could be pawns in the Active Measure game.
Jeffro
@Cheryl Rofer: NOTYET NOTYET NOTYET YOU BOZOS WE’RE ABOUT TO DROP THE MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS ON THIS CLOWN!!!! LET’S NOT LET SOME DUMB COHEN STORY SPOIL THE EPIC-EST EVER OF EPIC STORIES IN THE HISTORY OF EPICS!
-Mueller and Co. who have been working on this crap for two years non-stop and can’t get Twitler to quit committing MORE crimes long enough to wrap up the report
Quinerly
@Cheryl Rofer: huge deal. I have an entire day of my life invested in this BuzzFeed story. ?
Quinerly
@Yarrow: but, but, but… See my response at #173……
The Midnight Lurker
Ever since I saw Barr’s performance before Congress, and found out he is BFFs with Mueller, I suddenly have doubts about Mueller.
Why would he allow his office to go public now, especially for this?
What the hell is going on?
Yarrow
@Quinerly: It’s a marathon not a sprint. One story isn’t the whole deal.
TS (the original)
@Quinerly: Probably discovered that the marriage isn’t all she thought it would be – and having the Davos trip cancelled – another step towards the end.
Aleta
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Kushner proposed a deal, and Trump has accepted, to relocate the Capital to Richmond, Virginia.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Midnight Lurker: trump had a similar reaction
jl
@Cheryl Rofer: Thanks, That does cast some doubt on the story. However, it’s not an explicit or specific denial of the substance of the story, it is a denial about the accuracy of sourcing of the evidence to the Special Counsel.
We don’t know who the two investigator who were sources for the story are, or who they work for.There is SDNY FBI and NY State investigators. We don’t know whether or how they shaded some details to keep their anonymity.
Hopefully we’ll get further information that further supports or debunks the Buzzfeed story soon.
jl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Really? After Barr testified that was precisely what he told Trump himself over the phone?
Weird.
Quinerly
@Yarrow: I’m not getting any younger, plus I skipped going to Trader Joe’s today. ?
Frankensteinbeck
@TS (the original):
Haven’t they pretty much stopped that? The worm really has turned, just so slowly it’s been hard to notice. As far as I can tell, the current Narrative is, “He can’t be as stupid as he acts, right?”
@Jeffro:
If they had her a fake deal, Nancy is smart enough to be totally direct and answer publicly with “We didn’t agree to this last time. Why does he think we will now?”
The Midnight Lurker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Comparing me to the President… nice.
That might be harshest thing anyone has posted here about me yet. SAD.
I’m going to go have a hamberder and cry.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Midnight Lurker: NOT my intention!
Gex
@Jeffro: I wish they had put this out there earlier before the big announcement of tomorrow’s big announcement. Now the big mess Trump makes to change the subject will be foisted upon us for no reason.
Gravenstone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Conspicuously absent from that list, Democrats!
Mandalay
@Uncle Cosmo: Rose claimed it happened in the street in New York, and gave no further details.
Mike in Pasadena
@jl: You are right. The SC does not say, “The story is false” or “There is absolutely no truth in the Buzzfeed story.” The SC says that two things “are not accurate” — (1) description of specific statements, and (2) characterization of documents and testimony.
Interesting. Descriptions and characterization are not accurate. Okay. A less then definitive denial, or declaration of falsity. It is not an unambiguous statement that there is nothing truthful about Buzzfeed’s story. No doubt someone else has written the same thing. If so, I agree.