The Ukraine allegations against Trump are included in the whisteblower's complaint that the office of Director of National Intelligence is refusing to release to Congress.
In calling for such a release, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, cited reports that Trump threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine if it did not investigate Biden.
“If media reports are correct that President Trump delayed military aid appropriated by Congress in order to get Ukraine to investigate a political opponent, it’s difficult not to see that as an abuse of presidential authority, plain and simple," she said.
First I've seen that Trump was using extortion to get what he wanted from the Ukraine.
The Ukraine allegations against Trump are included in the whisteblower's complaint that the office of Director of National Intelligence is refusing to release to Congress.
In calling for such a release, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, cited reports that Trump threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine if it did not investigate Biden.
“If media reports are correct that President Trump delayed military aid appropriated by Congress in order to get Ukraine to investigate a political opponent, it’s difficult not to see that as an abuse of presidential authority, plain and simple," she said.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1902:53 PM
In an Op-Ed piece for the Washington Post, Ukrainian journalist and political activist writes of how Guiliani has dragged newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into the 2020 US presidential election:
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1903:48 PM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
In an Op-Ed piece for the Washington Post, Ukrainian journalist and political activist writes of how Guiliani has dragged newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into the 2020 US presidential election:
[Rick, my friend, it would be helpful if you identified the publication of the cite. WaPo has a subscription model, and I've used up my freebies already following links. (Not your fault, just reality.) So I can't access the cite. That's why I try to post the source when I provide links.]
Unlike many, I never respected Giuliani. He's always been a real sleazeball and inarticulate oaf. He just had the misfortune of being Mayor of New York when 9/11 happened and everyone was forgiving at that time. It was such a shock to the nation, we elevated anyone who was in charge, even if they were incompetent.
But this Ukraine thing is going to (should) be the undoing of the administration when it comes out. The purpose of the delay tactic is to "normalize" it - or at least get us used to it so it doesn't shock us so bad. It worked for pussygate, Trump tower, the Mueller report and the numerous other outrages of this administration, so it is following that playbook. It appears pretty clear, though, that what Trump was offering was a bribe of US money for political support. I think he figured it worked for Putin, so that must be how the game is played. That is his go-to operational method. Carrot and stick. I'll sanction you if you don't cooperate with my political program, or reward you if you do. He doesn't understand/care if that is just stupid or outright dishonest. It is how a bully with resources operates.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1904:00 PM
Originally Posted By: NW Ponderer
... what Trump was offering was a bribe of US money for political support.
Apparently he threatened to withhold Congressionally authorized support, which puts it in the category of extortion, as well as usurpation of the House's power of the purse.
Of course, the usurpation issue is Congress's best cause for impeachment. The fact that he is stealing the money in an extortion racket makes it more compelling than stealing money for The MAGA Wall through a fake national emergency declaration is.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1904:30 PM
Originally Posted By: NW Ponderer
Rick, my friend, it would be helpful if you identified the publication of the cite. WaPo has a subscription model, and I've used up my freebies already following links. (Not your fault, just reality.) So I can't access the cite. That's why I try to post the source when I provide links.].
Rudy Giuliani accused me of exposing Paul Manafort’s Ukraine deals to help U.S. Democrats. That’s a lie. Washington Post
Quote:
Serhiy Leshchenko is a Ukrainian journalist and political activist.
On Aug. 19, 2016, I convened a news conference in Kiev at which I revealed previously secret records of payments made by the former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych to Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. (Yanukovych fled the country in February 2014 after he was toppled by our Revolution of Dignity, a popular uprising on the streets of Kiev.) The information came from the “black ledger of the Party of Regions,” which was obtained by an anonymous source in the burned-out ruins of the headquarters of Yanukoych’s party. Yanukovych had used the ledger to keep records of his illegal transactions. At that time, although I was a member of parliament, I continued to combine that position with my journalistic work, which is allowed by the laws of Ukraine.
Quote:
I will always be angry at Manafort. His work contributed greatly to Yanukovych’s election victory in 2010; Yanukovych then used his position as president to enrich himself and his inner circle. I have no doubt that Yanukovych paid Manafort for his services out of the funds he robbed from Ukrainian taxpayers.
Quote:
Corruption is harmful whether it takes place America or Ukraine. My desire to expose Manafort’s doings was motivated by the desire for justice. Neither Hillary Clinton, nor Joe Biden, nor John Podesta, nor George Soros asked me to publish the information from the black ledger. I wanted to obtain accountability for the lobbyist whose client immersed Ukraine in a blood bath during the Revolution of Dignity and the subsequent war in eastern Ukraine, when Yanukovych called on Russia to send troops.
A federal judge in the United States later sentenced Manafort to 7½ years in prison for his many crimes. Among his offenses was his non-payment of taxes on undeclared income whose origins were revealed by Yanukovych’s secret accounts.
Quote:
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the Manafort revelations would become fodder for the U.S. elections in 2020. President Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, the mouthpiece of this campaign, is not only attempting to rehabilitate Manafort but is also working to undermine U.S. relations with Ukraine, which has been confronting Russian aggression on its own for more than five years. Giuliani and his associates are trying to drag our newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, into a conflict between two foreign political parties, drastically limiting Ukraine’s room for maneuver in respect to the United States, perhaps its most important international partner.
Quote:
Giuliani attempted to visit Ukraine in May 2019 with the express purpose of involving Zelensky in this process. His aim was quite clear: He was planning to ask Zelensky to intervene in an American election on the side of Trump.
Zelensky refused, forcing Giuliani to cancel his trip. Shortly after that, Giuliani went on Fox News, where he called me “[an enemy] of the president [and] of the United States.” This accusation had a devastating effect on my political career. I had been helping Zelenksy’s team since January — but now Giuliani’s smear cost me a job in the new administration. Not wanting to create problems for Zelensky, I withdrew from consideration.
Quote:
Giuliani's entire approach is built on disinformation and the manipulation of facts. Giuliani has developed a conspiracy theory in which he depicts my revelations about Manafort as an intervention in the 2016 U.S. election in favor of the Democratic Party. In his May interview on Fox, Giuliani even claimed that I was convicted of a corresponding crime.
Quote:
The facts do not support this allegation. Here’s the truth: The administrative court — which has long had a reputation as the most corrupt in Ukraine — ruled in December 2018 that I had acted illegally by disclosing the payments to Manafort. We appealed, and the verdict was suspended. And in the summer of this year, we won the appeal and the court’s decision was completely annulled. The appeal concluded that all the charges against me were unfounded, and even obliged my opponents to reimburse me for $100 in legal costs.
But Giuliani continues to quote this court decision even though it never attained legal force.
Giuliani also persists in claiming that the “black ledger” is a fake. He stated this most recently just a few days ago in an interview with CNN. In fact, the book is a genuine document. Expert examinations have confirmed the authenticity of the signatures shown in it.
Quote:
Giuliani has also been attacking the fearless activists from our Anti-Corruption Action Center, who managed to uphold their ideals even though they were persecuted by the previous government of President Petro Poroshenko.
By repeating this lie, Giuliani is not only deceiving American citizens. He is not only intervening in Ukrainian politics, smearing parliamentarians and officials of the presidential administration. He is also trying to drag the new president of Ukraine into an American election, which is absolutely unacceptable.
I know that leaders of the three U.S. congressional committees that are now investigating the whistleblower case have asked the White House and the State Department to share all correspondence regarding the people involved in this story, including me. As a person who has had direct experience of many of these events, I express my readiness to testify to the U.S. Congress about what has been happening for the past six months in the gray zone of Ukrainian-American relations.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1905:53 PM
Not only was the $250m in Taxpayer money being extorted, but Donald J Trump wanted the Ukraine President to say that the blood money for Paul Manafort was part of a Deep State campaign led by Hillary Clinton.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1906:38 PM
From May 2019, hiding in plain sight in Guiliani's own words:
Quote:
“We’re not meddling in an election; we’re meddling in an investigation, which we have a right to do,” and “There’s nothing illegal about it. Somebody could say it’s improper,” and “I’m going to give [Ukraine] reasons why they shouldn’t stop [the investigation] because that information will be very, very helpful to my client, and may turn out to be helpful to my government.”
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1908:11 PM
Nancy Pelosi warns that the Trump Administration "Will Be Entering a Grave New Chapter of Lawlessness" if they don't comply with the new Ukraine investigation. So what? Nancy isn't going to do anything about it anyway.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1909:01 PM
"My crimes cannot be investigated until I am out of office."
Trump admits he's committing crimes, he's just saying he's in the clear as long as he's in power! Trump is actually TEACHING the FOUNDING FATHERS where they went wrong!
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/22/1909:03 PM
Rick why is it so difficult for you guys to accept the possibility that Aunt Nancy doesn't want to give Trump any wiggle room? Maybe she wants impeachment to be GUARANTEED removal from office by the Senate.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/23/1901:55 AM
Originally Posted By: Jeffery J. Haas
Rick why is it so difficult for you guys to accept the possibility that Aunt Nancy doesn't want to give Trump any wiggle room? Maybe she wants impeachment to be GUARANTEED removal from office by the Senate.
Pretty sure this one is a slam-dunk. Plus there is an established pattern now.
Nancy Pelosi had better be prepared to shove her stiletto heel up Donald Trump's orange ass, this time.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/23/1904:56 AM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
Originally Posted By: Jeffery J. Haas
Rick why is it so difficult for you guys to accept the possibility that Aunt Nancy doesn't want to give Trump any wiggle room? Maybe she wants impeachment to be GUARANTEED removal from office by the Senate.
Pretty sure this one is a slam-dunk.
Not in the Senate it ain't. Not yet.
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
Plus there is an established pattern now.
Nancy Pelosi had better be prepared to shove her stiletto heel up Donald Trump's orange ass, this time.
Oh believe me, whether it's a stiletto heel or karma dry-drilling him with a cactus, it's coming.
I think Auntie Nancy just wants maximum bang for the buck, that's all. Her own daughter says:
Quote:
"Nancy will cut your head off, and you won't even know you're bleeding."
And Nancy thinks it's a compliment, which I suppose it just might be. I don't think she is fond of big splashy theatrics, I think she wants to come as a thief in the night. Then you get the big splashy theatrics. See, she probably doesn't like to telegraph her moves in advance. That's just dumb. So right now I think for Nancy, impeachment is still off the table...until suddenly when it is on the table.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/24/1908:11 AM
Donald Trump admitted at a UN presser today to withholding military aid to the Ukraine in exchange for "dirt" on Joe Biden.
Trump only thing cares about is that people hear is ‘Joe Biden and his son are corrupt.’ It doesn’t have to be true. Trump doesn’t have to prove it. He doesn’t have to provide evidence. All he cares about is sowing those seeds of distrust and doubt in the American electorate months before an election.
My response is this:
There’s a lot of talk about the fact that Trump molested a teen girl. I know nothing about it. I hear that he molested a teen girl. I’m sure that somebody will be looking at that.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/24/1912:53 PM
As long as Republicans hold the Senate, President Donald (...) Trump will never be convicted let alone tried or the charges even heard.
So Speaker Pelosi will:
Keep investigation(s) on going and public Plan Articles of Impeachment for June Pass them in early July Pass them to the Senate in late July Everybody goes home in August The constituents express their opinion(s) The senate will refuse to hear the articles in September, let alone a trial Everybody goes home to run for office in October We vote in November...
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/24/1905:09 PM
Originally Posted By: Ujest Shurly
As long as Republicans hold the Senate, President Donald (...) Trump will never be convicted let alone tried or the charges even heard.
So Speaker Pelosi will:
Keep investigation(s) on going and public Plan Articles of Impeachment for June Pass them in early July Pass them to the Senate in late July Everybody goes home in August The constituents express their opinion(s) The senate will refuse to hear the articles in September, let alone a trial Everybody goes home to run for office in October We vote in November...
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/24/1905:29 PM
So how did a political fail-son, known to buy crack shirtless, get his arse on a Ukranian energy company board of directors?
Is it like Joe Manchin's daughter's company bilking every community's in America's school's, fire department's and ambulance corps for the cost of mandated Epipens but more comical?
Trump I get but the other part of the story?..... You have to admit, it has more comic possibilities than the usual Liberal centrist rip-off's.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/24/1905:51 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
So how did a political fail-son, known to buy crack shirtless, get his arse on a Ukranian energy company board of directors?
Is it like Joe Manchin's daughter's company bilking every community's in America's school's, fire department's and ambulance corps for the cost of mandated Epipens but more comical?
Trump I get but the other part of the story?..... You have to admit, it has more comic possibilities than the usual Liberal centrist rip-off's.
People do rehabilitate themselves and turn their lives around.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/24/1905:57 PM
The Washington Postreported and the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Donald Trump himself ordered the freeze of congressionally allocated funds for Ukraine just one week before that phone call where he requested eight separate times that Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskiy open a sham investigation of Joe Biden and his son. Which means Trump had personally started putting the squeeze on Ukraine before he made the big ask on July 25th.
Trump's trusty henchman Mick Mulvaney set the wheels in motion. On July 18, the Office of Management and Budget, headed by Mulvaney, told the Pentagon and the State Department that the funds allocated by Congress for Ukraine were being frozen because the president had "concerns." Except, as the The Washington Post reports, the White House made darn sure not to tell them what those "concerns" were - which is how you know they were trying to cover their tracks.
Quote:
Administration officials were instructed to tell lawmakers that the delays were part of an "interagency process" but to give them no additional information - a pattern that continued for nearly two months, until the White House released the funds on the night of Sept. 11.
Donald Trump held up the $500 million allocation for Ukrainian weapons systems, maritime defense, and coordination with NATO, and then took steps to hide what he was doing by getting his underlings to lie about it. That's pretty strong circumstantial evidence that he intended to use the money as leverage to get the Ukrainian government to gin up a bogus case against Joe Biden.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/24/1906:49 PM
Soooooo....
A crack smoking fail-son of a neoliberal Veep finds love and redemption that ultimately leads to his career getting turbo charged with an almost preternatural talent for eurasion energy management.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/24/1907:47 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
Soooooo....
A crack smoking fail-son of a neoliberal Veep finds love and redemption that ultimately leads to his career getting turbo charged with an almost preternatural talent for eurasion energy management.
O.K., sure...
If I didn't know any better I'd swear someone thinks this is all about protecting Hunter Biden or Joe Biden.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/25/1911:59 AM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
Originally Posted By: Jeffery J. Haas
Originally Posted By: Greger
Wouldn't it just be a damned shame if this ruined Biden's chance at the Democratic nomination.......
**chuckles maniacally**
Fine by me. Vote for President Elizabeth Warren
Only if it's President Pence v Lizzy Warren.
Huh? Sorry Rick but I don't think we get to choose who the R candidate is going to be. Auntie Lizzy will have to run against whoever they put up. It might be Trump, and she will beat him like a drum if it is.
I'd even bet Bernie could beat him under the right circumstances. We still have over a year to go, so my own personal choices may change again and again, given the expected and perennial candidate shakeouts that are going to happen.
Thing is, I am ever mindful of the fact that we're also voting for House and Senate. If we take the Senate and keep the House, and Trump wins, politics is going to look markedly different on January 21, 2021, especially if Mr. Trump wins reelection.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/25/1903:33 PM
Trump asks for a "favor."
Trump asks a foreign government to investigate a political opponent based upon a rumor that Trump heard.
Trump reminds that foreign government that the US has done more for the foreign government than Germany has.
...all the while Trump knows he's polling -14 points less then Biden on the day of this conversation and was "exonerated" the day before by Robert Mueller's testimony before Congress.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/25/1903:47 PM
Also, Trump initially said that this was a discussion about trying to root out corruption in Ukraine, trying to ensure that the money was going to the right places, et cetera. There’s nothing about that in this transcript.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/25/1904:00 PM
The "transcript". Otherwise known as a smoking gun. In this case, one that is set to "cook off". The only parallel to a bbq cook-off being the smell of seared meat.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/25/1906:22 PM
Originally Posted By: Zelenskyy
I would also like to thank you for your great support the area of defense. We. are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/25/1911:13 PM
Donald J Trump gave a nutso, completely unhinged UN presser today with the Ukrainian President right by his side. (What a happy coincidence THAT turned out to be! )
Trump hopes that Zelenskiy can "get together [with Putin] and solve your problem." ( Remember, the little "problem" is that Russia invaded and is now occupying the Crimea) and calling losing the Crimea to Russia "one of those things."
Trump spun a lot of conspirators theories: Hunter Biden walked away with 'millions" from Ukrainian board member job. Hillary's emails on a server in Ukraine. BAMZ!!! only gave "sheets and pillows" to the Ukraine.
Donald Trump ended the presser by stating with certainty and gladness that fortunately Nancy Pelosi is not speaker of the House anymore.
...just your average crazy as a bed bug Trump news presser.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/25/1911:35 PM
ABC News is reporting: Ukrainians understood Biden probe was condition for Trump-Zelenskiy phone call
Quote:
When Ukrainians voted to elect comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy as their next president in the spring of 2019, the fledgling administration was eager to coordinate a phone call with Kyiv’s most important benefactor -- the United States, according to an adviser to Zelenskiy.
But after weeks of discussions with American officials, Ukrainian officials came to recognize a precondition to any executive correspondence, the adviser said.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/26/1904:49 PM
What always annoys me about liberals is they are sooooo boring with their political entertainment. All their programmed entertainment is just so much 'HOW DARE YOU SIR!!!"
And yet here's a neoliberal Democrat U.S. Senator's crack smoking, dead brother's wife banging, fail son sitting on a Ukraine energy giant's board of directors after having left being an attorney and CEO(!) of 'World Food Program, USA'.
Don't get me wrong, I've been enjoying all the riffing and memes on Uday and Qusay Trump and their shenanigans but c'mon! This should be comic gold.
Nawp, here come the party power structures to smother what should be weeks worth of comedy infonewstainment. Like that lame study hall monitor from high school that won't allow anyone to talk. I mean, how do you reconcile this:
'Hunter Biden began dating his brother’s widow while recovering from a week spent buying crack from a homeless encampment in Los Angeles, according to a new report.'
'WASHINGTON - Hunter Biden, the younger son of Vice President Joe Biden, is joining the board of a gas company operating in Ukraine, the company announced Tuesday, as the West seeks to help Ukraine wean itself off its dependence on Russian energy.'
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/26/1906:20 PM
Originally Posted By: SimonSC
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
... I mean, how do you reconcile this: ...with this:
By not treating "PageSix.com" as actual journalism? Dunno... trick question?
Human folly ceased to amaze me a long time ago...
I never bought crack from homeless encampments. Truth be told, much of what was slung as "crack" often turned out to be largely baking soda, or baby laxative. Sometimes it was even soap chips or gypsum drywall chunks. Nope, I had a bunch of regular and reliable dealers who could be summoned to my place with a phone call. And by the way, most of them looked like college kids, because none of them partook of the crack they slung. They were business, strictly business.
And I've been clean for twenty-five years now. But I earned the trust of the production community anyway and got hired to work on several feature films only a few years after I sobered up, thus proving, at least to myself, that even a recovering crackhead can put their life back together and straighten up and fly right.
I made some serious mistakes. But I held myself accountable and worked my butt off to restore my life and seek forgiveness to those I had wronged.
It's too bad that some of the more judgmental people in the world cannot believe such a thing is possible but I sure am grateful that I was allowed to go back to the creative arts that I enjoyed a decade before as a career.
'WASHINGTON - Hunter Biden, the younger son of Vice President Joe Biden, is joining the board of a gas company operating in Ukraine, the company announced Tuesday, as the West seeks to help Ukraine wean itself off its dependence on Russian energy.'
Gawd, liberal TV sucks...
Liberalism itself sucks, apparently. Particularly when an attempt is made to help wean Ukraine off Russian oil and gas. Specifically, Burisma's main wheelhouse happens to be hydraulic fracturing for gas and oil. As bad as fracking might be if done sloppily, it appears to be far better than being dependent upon Vlad Putin.
Much of EU happens to share that feeling. I suppose they suck, too.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/26/1906:36 PM
The world is dying from capitalism One completely corrupt, reality star cum President of the United States of America tries to blackmail a former actor, comedian President of a former Soviet Country, that we assured Russia we would not allow NATO to expand into (traditional invasion route into Russia Y'all), about a potential political rival's crack smoking son's appointment to a board room of a corporation involved in helping with killing the world and you want to moralize Jeff?
It's comedy wrapped in genocidal tragedy plating out in front of our times and the usual, set yer watch to it, liberal response is yet another blame, shame 'how dare you sir!'...
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1906:08 AM
Jared Kushner sitting next to the President of Ukraine in June 2019. Trump's call was on July 25, 2019. I'm sure Jared never mentioned Joe or Hunter Biden at all to Ukrainian President Zelensky.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1906:37 AM
Timeline from what I have put together:
Ukraine had a revolution in February 2014 pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych ousted flees country.
Owner of Bursma Holdings flees country, but retains ownership
Pro-Western president, Petro Poroshenko, takes over.
Obama Admin and EU prepared to work with new Ukraine government, but concerned about corruption.
Obama makes Vice President Biden the point man
Spring of 2014, Joe Biden begans his trips to Ukraine
Hunter Biden joins Burisma Board April 18, 2014
October 2014, Hunter gets fired from the Navy
May 2016, Joe Biden makes demand that corrupt Proscecutor gets fired before $1bn aid from US is issued.
I'm spit-balling here of course, but to me, the timeline suggests the Hunter Biden got the job simply to be a mole and keep an eye on things. Having Hunter Biden as a Board Member gave the US government eyes and ears into the operation of Burisma Holdings.*
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1906:46 AM
...from chunkstyle's Counter Punch Link:
Quote:
When an overly conscientious prosecutor started investigating the case the two Bidens insisted he be fired – or else no more money from Washington. He was fired. When his successor, after obediently quashing the case, found it necessary to take it up again, son or father stepped in with new threats – which again worked.
At least that’s how it sounds in the New York Times report.
The May 1, 2019 NYTarticlewhich the above Counter Punch quote is supposedly based upon, does not say what this quote says, or even allude or insinuate what the quote claims, at all. Or...at least I can't find it.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1912:18 PM
Devin Nunes, one of the top corrupt toady morons in government today, warned McGuire that the Democrats would take his words about the "credible whistleblower complaint" and spin them to make it appear that McGuire meant what he said.
Such is the state of Republican leadership honesty and mental competence.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1901:32 PM
“Former Vice President Joe Biden, now a 2020 Democratic presidential contender, has locked into a specific story about the controversy in Ukraine.
He insists that, in spring 2016, he strong-armed Ukraine to fire its chief prosecutor solely because Biden believed that official was corrupt and inept, not because the Ukrainian was investigating a natural gas company, Burisma Holdings, that hired Biden's son, Hunter, into a lucrative job.
There's just one problem.
Hundreds of pages of never-released memos and documents - many from inside the American team helping Burisma to stave off its legal troubles - conflict with Biden's narrative.”
So here’s the thing. This isn’t gunna end anytime soon or well and there’ll be plenty more stuff to dribble out. When you stop being critical of one corporate political party you do tend to leave the field to the other. It’s catch up after that.
Our history in the Ukraine and the former Soviet bloc countries goes further back than Koch news network Rick. You could make a case that the Empire has had a direct hand in much of the situation unfolding there today. Unlike our own current situation having been wrought by Putin?
But I still like how Hunter got thrown out of the navy for candying up his nose but now becomes our man in Havana script. After all, people. With drug dependencies make the most loyal and incorruptible in the diplomatic core. If that was the case does he still have child immunity from satire?
I wish I had parents that could bail me out of drug crash with a seat at the board of a resource extraction company. Expense account, six figure salary and all. Nothing to see here folks just average failing upwards in a political protection scenario.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1901:44 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
...I still like how Hunter got thrown out of the navy for candying up his nose...
In April 2014, Hunter Biden went from Navy Reservist making Navy pay, to making $15K a month as a Board Member plus Navy pay. Six months later, Hunter had a coke problem.
Hunter was making too much money after getting the Board job.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1902:06 PM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
...from chunkstyle's Counter Punch Link:
Quote:
When an overly conscientious prosecutor started investigating the case the two Bidens insisted he be fired – or else no more money from Washington. He was fired. When his successor, after obediently quashing the case, found it necessary to take it up again, son or father stepped in with new threats – which again worked.
At least that’s how it sounds in the New York Times report.
The May 1, 2019 NYTarticlewhich the above Counter Punch quote is supposedly based upon, does not say what this quote says, or even allude or insinuate what the quote claims, at all. Or...at least I can't find it.
Weird!
It doesn't say it because maybe, just maybe, Counterpunch's author doesn't have anything to back up the "overly conscientious prosecutor" nonsense. Who exactly is saying that the holdover prosecutor (wait, wasn't he an AG like Barr?) was a saint? His name is Viktor Shokin, and he was their "Prosecutor General", which I suppose is an equivalent to an Attorney General, yes?
The entire EU was ecstatic over his firing. Why was the entire EU happy with the sacking of an AG in Ukraine? If he was such a golden boy, as Counterpunch implies, the EU should have had his back, yes? The EU is every bit as dependent upon Russian oil and gas as Ukraine is, and several countries in the EU as well as the rest of Eastern Europe have experienced Russian oil and gas price shocks between 2005 and 2014. Burisma's main specialty is FRACKING, which although potentially bad for the environment, was finally judged to still be better than being beholden to Russia.
So suddenly Burisma is being investigated by Shokin? Is it even remotely possible that Shokin might have been another one of Vlad Putin's zombie assets like our own president?
Sorry but I am not automatically enamored of Counterpunch's view on this issue. Smells vaguely like a hint of BS.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1902:12 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
Didn’t neoliberal joe support a draconian drug bill sometime ago? Wonder how those kids are doing?
But okay...now you think I am defending Joe Biden. It's irresistible to you, isn't it? Just as Senator Hatrack can't resist red-baiting me, you can't seem to resist labeling me as some Republican-Lite neoliberal Biden supporter, which of course, is not the case.
You were so eager to get that in there that you didn't even care that it was a minor thread hijack (which is actually amusing ) but since you did bring up something deserving of its own thread, I'd like to cordially invite you to CREATE that thread so that we CAN discuss Uncle Joe the Drug Warrior's exploits.
If you don't create it, I will. Just lemme know, wouldja?
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1902:25 PM
Thanks for the topic division... while Biden was technically fair game for the topic, it was confusing in that it was intended to be about Trump's shenanigans.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1902:52 PM
Two things strike me, neither of which I have adequately researched.
1. Based on preliminaries I suspect Hunter is a frakup, who needs help with life choices. 2. I still do not see a link between VP Biden's actions and Ukrainian corruption.
Comment on #1: I think there needs to be a more detailed investigation of why Hunter was chosen to be the US representative on the board of a known corrupt Ukrainian company. Did he get the proverbial helping hand of knowing the right folks, a la nepotism, which may or may not be corrupt? or was he simply the most available person at the time?
Crazy Giuliani continues to spout allegations for which I can not find evidence.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1903:00 PM
Frankly, I didn’t know what you were getting at, Jeff, cept you were addicted to the good times and maybe sympathized with the Biden kid. I do too but not with his neoliberal white people problems. I never said you were a fan of Candidate Biden.
Yes Logs, let’s narrow the discussion and ignore any other aspects but those that impact your preferred target.
NOT!!!
Don’t get me wrong, that’s as much a motherload of incompetent comedy and trajectory but, what, is it to sensitive to talk about what that monkeyf#ck of an administration was even after? That would be a lot more boring and slightly dishonest wouldn’t It?
I still can’t brlieve they emailed Pelosi their talking points memo. This is such high grade incompetence, greed and corruption on parade from both corporate parties you can’t expect us to limit ourselves to just a few floats in it.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1903:02 PM
Originally Posted By: rporter314
I think there needs to be a more detailed investigation of why Hunter was chosen to be the US representative on the board of a known corrupt Ukrainian company.
The NPR link that I cited has a link answering that question.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1903:09 PM
I didn't realize that you were employing a "butwhaddabout..." argument. Are you?
I'm all for looking at Biden, but whatever his fukkups were re: Ukraine are a separate issue from Trump's current shitstorm. Toggling back and forth on separate things in one thread isn't very useful.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1905:33 PM
Ukraine had a revolution in February 2014 pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych ousted flees country.
Owner of Bursma Holdings flees country, but retains ownership
Pro-Western president, Petro Poroshenko, takes over.
Obama Admin and EU prepared to work with new Ukraine government, but concerned about corruption.
Obama makes Vice President Biden the point man
Spring of 2014, Joe Biden begans his trips to Ukraine
Hunter Biden joins Burisma Board April 18, 2014
October 2014, Hunter gets fired from the Navy
May 2016, Joe Biden makes demand that corrupt Proscecutor gets fired before $1bn aid from US is issued.
Donald Trump thinks there's somehow criminality in this scenario, he pressures the Ukrainian President to investigate Hunter and Joe Biden even though this scenario has already been investigated by the Ukrainian government and they found no malfeasance.
Because Trump used the power of the US Preidency / Leader of the Free World to assert pressure on a foreign government to get "dirt" on a political opponent due to this scenario, the Speaker of the House initiated a formal impeachment hearing. It turns out this conversation was then placed onto a server so no preying eyes could see the transcript. Oops.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1906:06 PM
What rick said.
It’s tbe very heart of the deal Trump was trying to make with Ukraine. Pound salt with that ‘whataboutism’ deflection. It was moronic when it first showed up in the pouty media meltdown after the 2016 election.
Goodness, aren’t we all so desperate with a crack addict Vice President’s son having a legitimate reason to be board certified for Ukraine gas fracking economic activity.
I’m sorry, I just find that ironically hilarious while Trump’s activity is more straight forward.
Until his attorney starts going on tv or his assistants start emailing.
Sorry if anyone’s political sensitivities got offended.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1906:18 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
...aren’t we all so desperate with a crack addict Vice President’s son having a legitimate reason to be board certified for Ukraine gas fracking economic activity.
Welp, since BAMZ!!! made Joe the point person for Ukraine and Ukraine corruption, ol' Joe putting his son Hunter into a position to be the eyes and ears of the US government - it makes sense to me.
...plus Hunter got a great pay raise. Who doesn't like a little extra in their paycheck each week?
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1906:40 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
What rick said.
It’s tbe very heart of the deal Trump was trying to make with Ukraine. Pound salt with that ‘whataboutism’ deflection. It was moronic when it first showed up in the pouty media meltdown after the 2016 election.
Goodness, aren’t we all so desperate with a crack addict Vice President’s son having a legitimate reason to be board certified for Ukraine gas fracking economic activity.
I’m sorry, I just find that ironically hilarious while Trump’s activity is more straight forward.
Until his attorney starts going on tv or his assistants start emailing.
Sorry if anyone’s political sensitivities got offended.
I guess you never paid any attention to my comments that I'm not a fan of the Biden's. The posts I have seen on this thread have acknowledged that Trump is trying to use them in his whatabout arguments, which is the extent of the connection. But even though it is often stated that the Bidens are clean, I too wonder about the things you keep bringing up.
It's just that whether or not Hunter got s*** he didn't deserve, or if PapaJoe hepped the little drug addicted tyke out, or if Ol' Joe (he sure smells good!) has his own pot of corruption stew to tend - none of that has anything more to do with Trump's Trubbles. Hence, my opinion that the Biden intrigues should have their own topic.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1907:41 PM
You can’t separate the two. To my mind, it’s all part of the same narrative. Endemic corruption and hypocrisy. There is no convenient punctuation to this, though some would rather have it that way.
I’m not wedded to consumer brand loyalty politics. Don’t have a dog in the fight either. A pox on both houses. Those who have been pining for a legal solution to Trump may want to put up arbitrary guard rails and speed limits but I haven’t any need for em.
Well Rick if, Bamz did it then it must be all right. One can’t go against the word of Bamz. For he is the Kwisatz Haderach!!!
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1908:52 PM
Whaaaaaaa......!!!!
Well it’s pretty wild David Lynch film. Very Joseph Campbell story. Butter up the popcorn and put an end to missing out on references at the next party Now I really am digressing.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1908:55 PM
Anyhow, Why do I have the end credits score from VEEP rummaging around my mind as I read the stories unfold on this life imitating satire reality were calling US politics?
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/27/1909:32 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
Whaaaaaaa......!!!!
Well it’s pretty wild David Lynch film. Very Joseph Campbell story. Butter up the popcorn and put an end to missing out on references at the next party Now I really am digressing.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/28/1902:22 AM
This ones for you Logs:
“That’s the biggest crime in this story that isn’t being told. The illegal overthrow of a sovereign government.
As booty from the coup, the sitting vice president’s son, Hunter Biden, soon got a seat on the board of Ukraine’s biggest gas producer, Burisma Holdings. This can only be seen as a transparently neocolonial maneuver to take over a country and install one’s own people. But Biden’s son wasn’t the only one”
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/30/1903:32 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
Not in it to win it. I thought it was funny as a rubber crutch and couldn’t believe it hadn’t been talked about. What’s there to win?
Right now? What's the win right now?
Right now, and for the foreseeable future for the next two years at least, we win ESCAPE FROM THE CURRENT INFECTION.
Sorry that is not enough for everyone just yet. Self preservation instincts are kicking in. In case you didn't know it, there's an absolute raving madman running the country.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/30/1903:49 PM
I had the sense in the possible quid pro quo between Mr Trump and the NRA, they would send money to campaign which Mr Trump would use for his impeachment defense fund.
So the question, can a sitting occupant of the WH buy an acquittal in an impeachment trial?
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/30/1903:57 PM
Originally Posted By: Jeffery J. Haas
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
Not in it to win it. I thought it was funny as a rubber crutch and couldn’t believe it hadn’t been talked about.
What’s there to win?
I think Chunks was referring to my comment up-thread a ways. What I meant is that I would stop trying to argue that the Biden Thing deserved its own topic. Then I cleverly started a new topic for it using an article about the Bidens that Chunks had posted under this topic.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/30/1911:04 PM
rather dickishly and without any reasoning though. You seem intent on putting a firewall around the circumstances leading up to the events now playing out. why though is beyond me
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/30/1911:06 PM
Originally Posted By: chunkstyle
rather dickishly and without any reasoning though. You seem intent on putting a firewall around the circumstances leading up to the events now playing out. why though is beyond me
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 09/30/1911:28 PM
Perhaps this is a good example of the problem. You seem to not want to let me represent my own meaning and intent. I have learned that there is no point in arguing with someone who will not let me speak for myself, and listen to what I have to say with respect and consideration.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/01/1903:21 AM
I find it interesting that there’s as many arguments for impeachment as against in the leftist media with good arguments being made by both sides of the argument. Nader’s all in on impeaching the President, not just for Ukraine, but all his constitutional transgressions. Others think it will backfire and lead to an election victory and four more years of the current administration.
One that was pretty spot on for me was:
‘It blows my mind that congressional Democrats will draw a red line on Ukraine while virtually ignoring decades of presidential misconduct. Where was Congress when Obama, then Trump, sponsored Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen? Both presidents provided military assistance to a cause that could not have proceeded without it. And both failed to secure the constitutionally mandated approval from Congress.“
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/01/1904:00 AM
I can always tell what Trump is up to, because he starts accusing opponents of that crime. He's calling people traitors, but all they are guilty of is lese majeste, which is not a crime in our country. Meanwhile, he is promoting civil war if he would be impeached. That would mean he is going to war against the legitimate successor President.... Which is the very definition of treason.
Let's hope so: Do they still hang people for treason?
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/01/1912:52 PM
According to this Washington Posttimeline, it now seems that Trump's involvement to get back at Joe Biden is a two-for: (a) knock-off the Dem leading Trump in the polls (b) payback for getting Paul Manafort exposed for off-the-book payments.
I did not realize that Paul Manafort was exposed as a result of the US via VP Biden's insistence that the Ukraine investigate corruption in 2014-15.
Knowing how extremely vindictive Trump is, this is all starting to make sense now.
Originally Posted By: Washington Post
Aug. 14, 2016: Ukrainian officials reveal the existence of a handwritten ledger suggesting that Manafort had received off-the-books payments from Yanukovych’s political party to the tune of millions of dollars. These payments are ultimately part of criminal charges filed against Manafort in the United States.
Aug. 19, 2016: Manafort is forced out from Trump’s campaign.
Sept. 2016: Burisma’s American lawyer would later claim the Ukrainian probe of the company ended this month.
Nov. 8, 2016: Donald Trump is elected president (with Russian assistance)*[qualifier my own]
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/01/1901:02 PM
Quote:
May 1: The New York Times publishes a story tying the elder Biden’s pressure campaign in Ukraine to Shokin having investigated Burisma, portraying it as a potential liability in his 2020 campaign.
The The New York Times also helped push the US into war with Iraq in 2003. For a supposed "left-wing" paper, they sure do align themselves with rightwing propaganda. ,
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/01/1904:33 PM
Quote:
Ukrainian officials reveal the existence of a handwritten ledger suggesting that Manafort had received off-the-books payments from Yanukovych’s political party to the tune of millions of dollars.
Isn't that precisely what Mr Trump wanted? an end to corruption in Ukraine.
the White House released a readout of a phone call showing the president pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into a “missing” computer server belonging to Democrats that Trump believes is in Ukraine and contains incriminating information about the origins of 2016 election meddling.
The problem is there is no “missing” physical server; there’s no actual reason to suspect Ukraine would have such a server in the first place; and there’s no evidence Ukraine interfered in the 2016 vote at all.
This idea stems from a conspiracy theory that has circulated in right-wing media for several years and has been thoroughly debunked. Yet Trump believes it all the same — enough that he felt the need to rope a foreign leader into investigating it.
But new reporting this week reveals that this is not the only wacky right-wing internet conspiracy theory that Trump has latched on to and tried to enlist foreign help to investigate.
We now know that a collection of these conspiracy theories has driven Trump to reach out to the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
For a supposed "stable genius," it appears that Mr. Trump is not very bright individual.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/02/1908:40 PM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
The problem is there is no “missing” physical server; there’s no actual reason to suspect Ukraine would have such a server in the first place;
That's due in part to the fact that Donald Trump is computer illiterate, so he apparently thinks that data is somehow "carved into" the server, like it's a piece of granite or something. The concept of magnetically encoded ones and zeroes on a storage device which can be cloned remotely does not occur to him because he has no understanding of the subject, and when experts try to explain it, he doesn't want to listen to them.
He thinks that a server is like some magical secret amulet, like a holy runestone imbued with "powers", and that to have easy access, one must physically take possession of it, much like taking possession of a magic amulet.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/03/1904:31 AM
For those on the right ... nothing has been debunked. The facts are fake ... the logic is too logical ... and the conclusions do not comport with their delusions.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/04/1903:31 AM
So WaPois saying that Pence's Top Security guy was on the July 25th phone call (...along with Mike Pompeo) and Pence had to have received a summary of that call for his meeting with the President of Ukraine on September 1, 2019 in Warsaw.
On September 1, 2019, the monies Congress allocated for the Javelin anti-tank missile system was still on hold - because Trump had not authorized the release.
But Pence is calming he was unaware of the quid pro quo of the July 25th phone call - even though he had summary of the call from his top security advisor.
If there is anything Mike Pence does well, is to play dumb.
Earlier this afternoon 10/03/19, the NY Times reported that a letter was drafted outlining what Ukraine had to do in order to receive the $450M that Congress allocated for the Javelins.
Quote:
The statement would have committed Ukraine to investigating the energy company Burisma Holdings, which had employed Hunter Biden, the former vice president’s younger son. And it would have called for the Ukrainian government to look into what Mr. Trump and his allies believe was interference by Ukrainians in the 2016 election in the United States to benefit Hillary Clinton.
It's unclear if the Ukraine ever received that letter as the Ukraine never released a public statement indicating they would follow conditions set-forth in the letter.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/04/1903:40 PM
Originally Posted By: Greger
Quote:
the Ukraine
As I understand it there is no "The" in Ukraine. The USA or The UK or The United Arab Emirates is cool but Ukraine is just Ukraine.
I had the same understanding.
Quote:
"The Ukraine" used to be the usual form in English,[20] but since the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, "the Ukraine" has become less common in the English-speaking world, and style-guides largely recommend not using the definite article.[11][21] "The Ukraine" now implies disregard for the country's sovereignty, according to U.S. ambassador William Taylor.[22] The Ukrainian position is that the usage of "'The Ukraine' is incorrect both grammatically and politically."[7]
(Wikipedia).
The reality is it is just an affectation/grammatical error. This article explains: Ukraine or "The" Ukraine?
Quote:
First of all we might note that the Ukrainian language has no articles so this is not a factor except indirectly. The reason for this is that many Ukrainian immigrant scholars, due to their imperfect knowledge of English, used the form "the Ukraine" in their books thus helping to perpetuate this usage.
Does English grammar require the definite article the before Ukraine? Ukraine is the name of an independent country. There are only two groups of countries which require the article in English: Those with plural names such as the United States or the Netherlands. The others have names with adjectival or compound forms which require the article, such as the United Kingdom, the Dominion of Canada, or the Ukrainian SSR.
English grammar does not require a definite article before the names of singular countries such as England, Canada or Ukraine.
Geographical regions such as the Arctic, the Atlantic, the North, the West, and the prairies all require the definite article, but these are not countries. Since 1917 Ukraine has had very definite borders so it cannot be regarded as merely a region. Some people have mistakenly thought that Ukraine is a general word meaning "the borderland;' "the steppes" or "the prairies;' which would require the article.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/04/1904:49 PM
I use both.
When Ukraine was a part of Russia/USSR I think it appropriate to say The Ukraine because it was an area/province in Russia/USSR. Since it has become independent ... well I believe the name of the sovereign state is simply ... Ukraine. Thus I spent a lot of time in my youth saying The Ukraine ... kinda like The Congo ... and on it goes
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/05/1906:36 PM
• Trump says there was no quid pro quo • His hapless fans spend two days spamming the internet with "NO QUID PRO QUO" • Text evidence between State Officials released showing ironclad proof of the quid pro quo
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/07/1905:02 AM
Perry insists he was just there to talk about energy. That natural gas blackmail thingie Russia was attempting until we began sending LNG to Europe. I wonder if Trump is drowning and grabbing any convenient swimmer to try to save himself.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/10/1905:13 PM
Today, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two foreign-born associates of President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, have been charged with campaign finance violations. Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas worked with Giuliani, the attorney has said previously, as part of his dealings in Ukraine that involved efforts to encourage the nation to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
The House impeachment investigating committees asked Parnas and Furman to produce documents and to testify about the Ukraine scandal. Yesterday 10/09/19 their lawyer wrote an astounding letter denying Congress had the authority to make such demands and that it was simply trying to "harass, intimidate and embarrass" his clients. He wrote the letter in comic sans font, which seems to suggest he is laughing at the idea he and his clients have to answer to Congress.
This morning 10/10/19, the two were arrested for these charges.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/11/1906:57 PM
Apparently the woman who was our Ambassador to Ukraine (Marie Louise Yovanovitch) said that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman and Giuliani wanted her gone as they thought she was interfering with the corruption of Ukraine which they were depending on to do whatever it is that they were doing.
In other words, if Giuliani was doing the bidding of Our Dear Leader Trump, then Trump was actually upset that the Ukrainians were actually making headway on their corruption which was discommoding his efforts to do whatever he wanted doing. This would mean that Jackass the corruption killer is really not a corruption killer at all!
You just gotta wonder. This entire deal just keeps getting worse, and more confusing, anytime something new raises its head. Its really pretty amazing. One can only wonder what's coming next, what disaster is on its way as well is what disaster just happened. In my own mind, how in the HELL are any of those Republican senators going to explain it all to their constituents or even each other. My main concern is whether the Democrats are going to have the gumption to even ask them.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/11/1907:41 PM
They won't have to, most of their Republican constituents won't ask. As to the Democratic constituents, some will ask. However, remember peer pressure is very powerful. As Dumbledore once said, "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/12/1903:42 AM
There is a large cadre of personnel who are implicated in the call. We have ambassadors, NSC folks, attorneys, Sec Pompeo, AG Barr, Ukrainians and these are the ones who are known. Imagine if Giuliani and his henchmen can shed light on the call. Secret server.
Suppose the investigators find there are more calls? One call may earn the occupant a censure from the Senate but think if there is a pattern of abuse. It could not be overlooked, even by Republicans.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/12/1904:24 AM
Originally Posted By: rporter314
There is a large cadre of personnel who are implicated in the call. We have ambassadors, NSC folks, attorneys, Sec Pompeo, AG Barr, Ukrainians and these are the ones who are known. Imagine if Giuliani and his henchmen can shed light on the call. Secret server.
Suppose the investigators find there are more calls? One call may earn the occupant a censure from the Senate but think if there is a pattern of abuse. It could not be overlooked, even by Republicans.
All valid points. Trump has already admitted to extortion and bribery on the July 25th call. That's all the Dems really need to Impeach Trump.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/12/1903:21 PM
Quote:
Trump has already admitted to extortion and bribery on the July 25th call.
Not quite.
Mr Trump admitted to a "perfect" call, which any objective person should see as an example of what a smoking gun criminal collusion act is. Mr Trump may be the only person who did not understand what his call was. The NSC folks, recognized it and went into immediate coverup mode, WH attorneys recognized it and ordered the coverup, Amb Sondland knew Mr Trump was already engaged in a quid pro quo and had to confer with Mr Trump to verify Mr Trump did not think it was, all the US Ukrainian diplomats recognized Giuliani's efforts as criminal activities, should I go on .... it would appear everyone but Mr Trump recognized it for what it was ... a "perfect" example of abuse of power.
And this is precisely why Mr Mueller wanted to interview Mr Trump and all of Trump's attorneys did not want him to be deposed ... OMG ... he would have given up the gig before anyone could light a cigarette.
Does anyone recollect the courtroom scene from "A Few Good Men"? Here is my paraphrase
Rep Shiff: Did you order US aid to be held up until Ukraine begin an investigation into the Biden's?!
Mr Trump: YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DID!
Mr Trump: [Rep Shiff dismisses the committee] What is this? Mr Chairman, what's going on? I did my job, I'd do it again! [stands up defiantly] I'm gonna get on a plane and go on back to Mar a Lago
Mr Trump: What the hell is this?
AG Barr: Mr Trump, you have the right to remain silent. Any statement you make...
Mr Trump: [while AG Barr continues reading his rights] I'm being charged with a crime? Is that what this is? I'm being charged with a crime? This is funny. That's what this is. This is... [turns to Rep Shiff and lunges at him while Sgt at Arms hold him back] I'm gonna rip the eyes out of your head and piss into your dead skull! You [censored] with the wrong Trump!
And that would be the real narcissist Donald J Trump in action
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/12/1906:13 PM
It is unknown what the facts are but if Giuliani was breaking the law at Mr Trump's order ... well you guys know the rest of that
There is a pattern of criminal behavior ... this is precisely what the Founders thought when they used the phrase "high crimes and misdemeanors". We have them in spades.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/12/1906:38 PM
Originally Posted By: rporter314
It is unknown what the facts are but if Giuliani was breaking the law at Mr Trump's order ... well you guys know the rest of that
There is a pattern of criminal behavior ... this is precisely what the Founders thought when they used the phrase "high crimes and misdemeanors". We have them in spades.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/16/1903:25 AM
Originally Posted By: rporter314
Does anyone recollect the courtroom scene from "A Few Good Men"? Here is my paraphrase
Rep Shiff: Did you order US aid to be held up until Ukraine begin an investigation into the Biden's?!
Mr Trump: YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DID!
Mr Trump: [Rep Shiff dismisses the committee] What is this? Mr Chairman, what's going on? I did my job, I'd do it again! [stands up defiantly] I'm gonna get on a plane and go on back to Mar a Lago
Mr Trump: What the hell is this?
AG Barr: Mr Trump, you have the right to remain silent. Any statement you make...
Mr Trump: [while AG Barr continues reading his rights] I'm being charged with a crime? Is that what this is? I'm being charged with a crime? This is funny. That's what this is. This is... [turns to Rep Shiff and lunges at him while Sgt at Arms hold him back] I'm gonna rip the eyes out of your head and piss into your dead skull! You [censored] with the wrong Trump!
And that would be the real narcissist Donald J Trump in action
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/16/1904:46 AM
I see that a number of State Department employees and former employees have been told not to testify by Pompeo and then gone ahead and testified before congress as requested. At least a few people realize how the law works and don't want to go to jail! I suppose that ordinary staff is not going to stick their necks out for illegal orders, while Trump's appointees (being incompetent) agree to follow the captain down with the sinking ship. Of course, they believe the captain can keep the ship afloat in spite of the gaping holes in the hull, by sheer will power!
I wonder if Pompeo will be criminally liable for ordering people to do illegal thing at some time in the future. This could all make one hell of a RICO prosecution.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/16/1903:31 PM
I think I already promoted the idea in a post responding to the Senator, Mr Trump was a crime boss involved in a conspiracy which included, Sec Pompeo, AG Barr, Chief Advisor Mulvaney, Amb Sondland, and those are just the governmental conspirators. The foot soldiers in this conspiracy include Att Giuliani, Parnas, Fruman as well as links to already indicted Ukrainian Firtash. I would like to stretch the extend of this conspiracy by including members of Fox News who have promoted the efforts of the criminal activities of this gang and have aided in the coverup.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/17/1905:44 AM
A good TV show demonstrating how corrupt all his BS has been, may be the only thing that can convince his hard-core followers that he is unworthy of their love. Then again you might have to frame it all in the context of WWE wrestling to reach some of them.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/17/1904:45 PM
Pelosi: Why did you pull troops out of Syria? Trump: Campaign promise to bring the troops home. Pelosi: Saudi Arabia is home? You're sending troops there. Trump: They're paying for it. Pelosi: You're sending troops in harms way because Saudi Arabia is paying for it? All roads lead to Putin.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/17/1905:35 PM
You expected something different maybe? You imagine we'll be surprised at this revelation?
By rights, this affair should destroy any chance Biden has of getting the nomination. It will be slow moving but inexorable. Warren will continue to slowly rise. Despite Bernie's energetic performance in the debates his chances of getting the nod are toast.
If Warren wants to genuinely kick Donald's ass in the general election she'll choose Bernie as a running mate. That will make Warren look more mainstream to centrists yet will pull in the lefties! That's not a prediction though, that's just a pipe-dream.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/17/1909:21 PM
Quote:
I'm confused.
Dems dismiss Allegations Perhaps you recall posting that? Then I asked if the dismissal was a surprise to you. It certainly wasn't to anyone else. After that I ruminated a bit about the effects on the overall election. I hope that clears up any confusion.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/17/1910:07 PM
Yes indeedy,
Ruminate away.
I'm not sure this Ukraine nefariousness will confine itself to Biden's campaign. It may have the opposite effect of energizing Trump's base as Russiagate did. The fact that it's so easy to call B.S. on this one makes me wonder what the consequences will be for liberal's chances of regaining the senate and White house. Trump should be able to negate the allegations as Democrats hands are dirty in the Ukraine as well. If elections are about turning out your base I wonder who's base will be more energized over this?
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/17/1910:19 PM
"The Ukraine story might sink his campaign, but it also may help… Impeachment does commit Democrats to a strident defense of Biden and his son, even if, or perhaps especially if, there’s a real problem that needs regular PR response."
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/17/1911:49 PM
Since Biden has nothing to offer voters beyond making america great again by doing nothing at all I hope voters will be shying away from him.
Rallying around an empty old suit that smells of mothballs and urine is a lovely thought but as far as I'm concerned a Biden administration will be worse than a Trump second term. He's too old to serve two terms, his VP choice is bound to be some lackluster nobody. Maybe Booker? Republicans will make him a one term president and we'll be back to square one.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/18/1901:29 AM
“Rallying around an empty old suit that smells of mothballs and urine” - Har!
Still, Taibbi made a few good observations of the debate and party in general. Given a choice between an agenda of broad popular proposals and a masquerade of ‘electability’ arguments and ‘mutual values’ platforms, I could see a Biden nomination come out of this. Dunno, but the Ukraine corruption may prove to be an exposure liability that forces the Party to protect Biden for mutual self preservation as Taibbi suggests it could. Next couple of weeks should be telling of wether the party abandons him or stays unified in the ‘nothingburger’ position they’ve currently taken.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/19/1903:41 AM
I know Biden stands a fair chance of getting the nod but I simply cannot abide even the thought of it, so I live in this fantasy where Warren will beat him. There's a good chance it happens exactly as I plan, the path is wide open. Democratic voters have this one chance to get this thing right. They may not get another for a long time. They may not get another chance at all.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/22/1903:58 AM
Wouldn't it be a hoot if Biden got the nod and then picked Warren as VP? Presidents have usually picked some nebbish as the VP, just as assassination insurance I think. How about picking some Democrat from the opposite wing of the Party just to get all the Democratic voters to come out? What a concept!
That would take care of the age concerns as well: If Biden became less capable, his VP could handle more of the job. If he got really bad, he could resign and she would take over. Might be the only way we get a female President, since women seem so reluctant to vote for women.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/22/1903:50 PM
Interesting concept and even I might vote for him if....no, no I wouldn't Biden is absolutely unacceptable under any circumstances. I will not contribute to the fiasco Biden would create.
He's far more likely to pick Mayor Pete. In fact...let me make it an official prediction.
Biden will pick Mayor Pete if he gets the nod. Because youth and gayness.
He couldn't abide a genuine progressive as a running mate.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/22/1907:49 PM
Quote:
What did ol' Uncle Joe do to you?
Question is...what did ol' Uncle Joe ever do? What has he promised to do as president. What do we expect the outcome of his Presidency to be?
Do you ever recall ever thinking "I'm glad ol' Uncle Joe is the VP in case anything ever happens to Obama!"
Did you ever once think "I hope he runs for president after Obama is gone!"
Are you currently hoping he'll get the nod?
Me either. He's got nothing but experience. He's never shown me any leadership skills. He checks all the boxes for long term congressmen who should have retired years ago. I could go on...and on and on.
But what really worries me is that he's not going to be a popular president, after all, he's just a placeholder, the one most likely to beat Trump which is what's on everybody's radar. Okay so he wins...then what? No charisma, no pizzaz, fake tan, fake hair, fake smile. Dishing out oatmeal to the press and boredom with the glacial movement after all the big talk in the primaries from the progressive candidates and the excitement it generated. We'll get Slow Joe. And no agenda beyond beating Trump and working across the aisle.
There are only so many ways that the 2024 election can turn out.
The most likely, as I see it, is the Far Left Congress will piss off the Republicans with their socialist agenda and ol' Uncle Joe will be defeated by a Republican in 2024. Then we're back to square one.
A more progressive and charismatic president will excite the Democratic base with some sensible legislation and at the same time will bring some non voting Americans to the polls in the next presidential election because of those same pieces of legislation.
A fairly simple thing like adding daycare to the public school system.
Warren has a plan for that. What's Joe got? Bernie has plans too! What's Joe got? Obama.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/22/1910:35 PM
Quote:
What's Joe got?
Simply NOT being President Jugalo... Like a return to the rule of law, the normal bounds of executive power, nominating judges that are rated "Qualified", hiring people to full administration positions who are not trying to sabotage their departments, acting as President to 100% of Americans instead of attacking anyone not in his base, supporting our allies, putting pressure on despots, and so much more.
I would prefer it not be Joe, but he's a LOT better than Trump. You could just pick any random person by lottery, and they would very likely be better than Trump.
First he took away a Hillary Clinton presidency which would have been amazing. And now he's gonna help a geriatric, out of touch, old fraud get elected for a single term.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/24/1903:32 PM
Joe Biden was first elected to office in 1970. 3 years later he became a congressman. He first ran for president in 1988. Then again 20 years later in 2008. And now here we are 10 years down the road and he's doing it again. He had nothing of interest to voters 30 years ago. They weren't interested 10 years ago either. He has done nothing in the last 10 years and suddenly he's the leading candidate because he can magically beat Donald Trump who has a 90% approval rating within his party?
And yall gonna sit there and tell me that this is all fine and good because he's better than the worst president to ever occupy the Whitehouse.
I am not buying into this madness. It is a recipe for disaster.
First he took away a Hillary Clinton presidency which would have been amazing. And now he's gonna help a geriatric, out of touch, old fraud get elected for a single term.
Color me less than excited.
That's exactly how I felt about a Hillary presidency and why I didn't vote in 2016. Plus being in a blue state, my vote didn't matter anyway - except to add to the popular count which is not how we elect Presidents.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/24/1904:35 PM
Originally Posted By: Greger
Joe Biden was first elected to office in 1970. 3 years later he became a congressman. He first ran for president in 1988. Then again 20 years later in 2008. And now here we are 10 years down the road and he's doing it again. He had nothing of interest to voters 30 years ago. They weren't interested 10 years ago either. He has done nothing in the last 10 years and suddenly he's the leading candidate because he can magically beat Donald Trump who has a 90% approval rating within his party?
And yall gonna sit there and tell me that this is all fine and good because he's better than the worst president to ever occupy the Whitehouse.
I am not buying into this madness. It is a recipe for disaster.
I didn't buy into the madness of 2016 either, voting against both major party candidates. 25% of all Americans didn't like and didn't neither Trump nor Clinton to become president. 6% of the electorate voted against both. Some 9 million plus voters who thought it important enough to go to the polls to officially register their vote against both major party candidates. Who knows how many stayed home because of their dislike and unwanted candidates.
54% of all independents disliked both candidates, but all but 12% of independents, some 42% worth voted for the candidate they least wanted to lose, not to win.
We're talking about a totally screwed up election where 60% of all Americans didn't want Trump, 60% didn't want Clinton which includes the 25% which didn't want both or neither one to become president.
2016 was an election between the two most disliked and unwanted major party candidates in our history. They just happened to be matched up against each other. Both set the record for the lowest favorable and highest unfavorable records. at 58% and 60% unfavorable's, they smashed Barry Goldwater's record of 47% back in 1964, the previous record holder.
Bottom line, we have whom we have as president due to the actions, decisions and choices made by both major parties back in 2016. It wasn't like the Democrats didn't have advanced warning. In a February 2016 poll, 56% of all Americans stated they wanted the Democrats to nominate someone other than Clinton. The Democrats ignored America as a whole, which was their right, no doubt about that. America as a whole don't decide who will be the Democratic nominee, Democrats do. But America as a whole decides who will be president.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/24/1904:50 PM
Quote:
We're talking about a totally screwed up election where 60% of all Americans didn't want Trump, 60% didn't want Clinton which includes the 25% which didn't want both or neither one to become president.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/24/1910:19 PM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
Quote:
We're talking about a totally screwed up election where 60% of all Americans didn't want Trump, 60% didn't want Clinton which includes the 25% which didn't want both or neither one to become president.
The non-Trump, non-Clinton numbers all together don't add-up to 25% of those who voted. More like 6%.
6% of the total electorate is exactly what I stated in my post who voted third party in 2016 My exact wording was, "6% of the electorate voted against both." A reference to the third party voters. Perhaps I should have been clearer. 25% of the total electorate along with 54% of independents disliked both major party candidates which is in the Gallup article. Scroll down to the second greened in section under the title of "Opinions of Trump and Clinton, by Subgroup" for the 54% of independents having an unfavorable view of both Trump and Clinton. Here's the link once more.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/25/1912:22 AM
Originally Posted By: Greger
Joe Biden was first elected to office in 1970. 3 years later he became a congressman. He first ran for president in 1988. Then again 20 years later in 2008. And now here we are 10 years down the road and he's doing it again. He had nothing of interest to voters 30 years ago. They weren't interested 10 years ago either. He has done nothing in the last 10 years and suddenly he's the leading candidate because he can magically beat Donald Trump who has a 90% approval rating within his party?
And yall gonna sit there and tell me that this is all fine and good because he's better than the worst president to ever occupy the Whitehouse.
I am not buying into this madness. It is a recipe for disaster.
I have to agree, plus his eyeball exploded a while back anyway.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/25/1912:23 AM
Originally Posted By: perotista
6% of the total electorate is exactly what I stated in my post who voted third party in 2016 My exact wording was, "6% of the electorate voted against both." A reference to the third party voters.
...but then you went on to state:
Quote:
We're talking about a totally screwed up election where 60% of all Americans didn't want Trump, 60% didn't want Clinton which includes the 25% which didn't want both or neither one to become president.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/25/1912:25 AM
Originally Posted By: Jeffery J. Haas
Originally Posted By: Greger
Joe Biden was first elected to office in 1970. 3 years later he became a congressman. He first ran for president in 1988. Then again 20 years later in 2008. And now here we are 10 years down the road and he's doing it again. He had nothing of interest to voters 30 years ago. They weren't interested 10 years ago either. He has done nothing in the last 10 years and suddenly he's the leading candidate because he can magically beat Donald Trump who has a 90% approval rating within his party?
And yall gonna sit there and tell me that this is all fine and good because he's better than the worst president to ever occupy the Whitehouse.
I am not buying into this madness. It is a recipe for disaster.
I have to agree, plus his eyeball exploded a while back anyway.
Yet you both will vote for ol' Joe (...well Greger anyway) if he's the Dem nom. Jeffrey lives in Cali, his non-vote if there is one won't matter.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/25/1912:45 AM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
Yet you both will vote for ol' Joe (...well Greger anyway) if he's the Dem nom. Jeffrey lives in Cali, his non-vote if there is one won't matter.
I honestly do not believe Joe Biden will be the nominee, not even if they invent an inflatable Biden like the inflatable copilot in the movie "Airplane!"
But YES, if we are lackadaisical enough to allow Biden to beat everyone else, I WILL vote for him, and it may be the very last time people like me are ever allowed to vote because he will be a one term mediocre president that leads to another Trump.
Not shouting, just wanted to make it clear. And by the way, we have to clean out CONGRESS because as can be seen, without a clear majority in both chambers, nothing will ever get done.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/25/1912:53 AM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
Originally Posted By: perotista
6% of the total electorate is exactly what I stated in my post who voted third party in 2016 My exact wording was, "6% of the electorate voted against both." A reference to the third party voters.
...but then you went on to state:
Quote:
We're talking about a totally screwed up election where 60% of all Americans didn't want Trump, 60% didn't want Clinton which includes the 25% which didn't want both or neither one to become president.
Mixed messages.
I should have been clearer I suppose. But it was definitely a mixed up election to put it mildly.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/25/1905:46 PM
Quote:
Yet you both will vote for ol' Joe (...well Greger anyway) if he's the Dem nom. Jeffrey lives in Cali, his non-vote if there is one won't matter.
Nope. There are many paths that lead to Global Utopian Social Democracy, Joe Biden is not one of them. A second Trump term is probably the quickest but it will also be the most painful.
You've probably heard the leftist slogan: "Let's Burn This Mother phucker to the ground"? Wellsir, that's what a second Trump term will do.
But it won't be Republicans rebuilding when they're done.
If Biden is the nominee I'm sitting it out. I may take Chunkstyle's advice and stop voting altogether because a democrat might win. I'm going to be recommending that all my friends and associates withhold their votes as well. Until govermnent changes everything about how it does business I'm no longer voting.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/25/1906:29 PM
Quote:
Until govermnent changes everything about how it does business I'm no longer voting.
A second Trump term could bring the end to the American experiment, though. We could easily become another Kleptocracy like Russia, and never recover. But you refuse to play because everything won't be perfect. Just take your football and go home.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/25/1907:04 PM
Me and Chunks gonna play with our own balls!
Quote:
A second Trump term could bring the end to the American experiment
EGGzactly! If the best we can hope for is Democrats running the country then it has already failed. Since we don't have the votes to make the changes we want then violent revolution may be the only answer.
Starting WW3 might work too. If enough people sit this election out and give it to Trump then WW3 is on the table!
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/26/1903:43 AM
Yeah, your 34% from CNN is as big an outlier as Quinnipiac with Warren leading by 7%, go back there and you'll see the recent polls for Iowa. Polls are all over the place but Biden is still hanging on. It won't be too long before voting actually begins.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/26/1903:57 AM
Originally Posted By: Greger
It won't be too long before voting actually begins. That's the only poll that really counts.
True.
I will be happy with ANY Democrat President, I really would. I'm just nervous that if Lizzy or Bernie gets the nom that the "socialist" label that Trump will put on them will guarantee Trump another four years.
Our country cannot have another four years of Trump - it just can't.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/26/1907:06 PM
I would vote for any ham sandwich which I think would beat Mr Trump, whatever it's political persuasion. It is far more important to save the nation than allow it to be destroyed through incompetence and greed.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/26/1907:07 PM
Originally Posted By: rporter314
I would vote for any ham sandwich which I think would beat Mr Trump, whatever it's political persuasion. It is far more important to save the nation than allow it to be destroyed through incompetence and greed.
I think the real issue is that Trump supportors cannot, nor will not, admit they were wrong - so they're sticking with their failure of a president.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/27/1901:33 PM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
Originally Posted By: rporter314
I would vote for any ham sandwich which I think would beat Mr Trump, whatever it's political persuasion. It is far more important to save the nation than allow it to be destroyed through incompetence and greed.
I think the real issue is that Trump supportors cannot, nor will not, admit they were wrong - so they're sticking with their failure of a president.
If you replace Clinton for Trump and President with Candidate, your statement says the same thing Rick.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/27/1903:50 PM
I think the real issue is that Clinton supporters cannot, nor will not, admit they were wrong - so they're sticking with their failure of a candidate.
I think the real issue is that Sanders supporters cannot, nor will not, admit that they were wrong so they're sticking with their failure of a candidate.
Only one of these two is in the race, so who is sticking with whom?
Most of us got over the 2016 fiasco, some just won't let it go.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/27/1905:05 PM
Simply pointing out the similarities in both houses as it relates to the ongoing topic of campaign monies being collected or spent. Done badly enough, it can costs you the election, whatever the reasons.
I’m not interested in a retrial either. Just speaking frankly about some of what happened. Sanders made plenty of errors too, though of a different sort, IMO. Some feel he’s making them again. I’d be in that camp.
Style of fundraising probably should be its own topic though. Has nothing to do with Biden, Ukraine and whathaveya.
Giuliani's phone called the NBC reporter and it went to vmail. The recording is of Rudy Giuliani talking to someone in an unguarded moment when he did not know anyone was listening.
Rudy is saying to the person in the room, "we had to force them to do the investigation." Rudy is talking about Ukraine there. And the ‘we’ is the question but pretty clearly involves Rudy Giuliani - also the need for cash - $100,000.00.
This is a real smoking gun that no one is quite talking about it enough.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/28/1911:19 PM
Originally Posted By: Greger
Quote:
This is a real smoking gun
No, it's a fart in a windstorm.
It meets all of the requirements to pin quid pro quo onto Trump - even though he, Giuliani and Mulvaney have already admitted quid pro quo on television.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/30/1905:03 AM
Originally Posted By: Greger
Quote:
Radical Rightist are showing their loyalty to a corrupt POTUS over a Lt Col. who bled for our country.
These Rightists show who they are. That's one good thing to come out of it.
All that from Rudy sitting on his phone?
No, all of this from Trump being an arrogant son-of-a-bitch pressuring Ukraine into digging dirt up on Joe Biden when Congress already approved the funds, all because Robert Mueller wouldn't indict Trump because of some ridiculously asinine DoJ memo.
Rudy's butt-dial confession only validates what Trump did - not to mention that Trump, Giuliani, and Mulvany have already confirmed Trump's quid pro quo on national television.
When autocratic leaders attack “corruption,” they are usually using it as a pretext to clear out the competition and establish their own racket. President Trump’s campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate his domestic enemies follows this pattern. While Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was leaning on the government in Kiev, he was simultaneously running a side hustle trying to extort the Ukrainians into throwing some energy business at his clients.
Some of the facts surrounding Rudy’s energy scam trickled out over the weekend, but the most damning revelations were contained in an explosive Associated Press story Sunday evening. If it were not a sidecar to a historic scandal, the energy scam would itself constitute a large enough scandal to bring most presidencies to their knees.
This is the basic outline of the story: While he was representing Trump as a lawyer, Giuliani was being paid by two men who were seeking business with Ukraine’s government. Giuliani was wearing two hats: simultaneously representing the president of the United States and his paid clients. The conflict of interest between the two roles is overt. Giuliani’s clients could use his name to leverage Ukraine to give them business.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 10/30/1905:57 PM
I love conspiracy stories about government because ... well .... sometimes the seed of truth germinates and blossoms into reality.
I have wondered for a while where Mr Trump got his conspiracy their from and now (if this info is accurate), I know. It is a wow story and I can't wait for the movie or limited TV series. Some of it I knew, but it is now glued together.
This is important for understanding Mr Trump and his confederates and their rabid belief regarding the start of the Russia Investigation.
“The testimony of Ambassadors Volker and Sondland shows the progression of efforts by the President and his agent, Rudy Giuliani, to use the State Department to press Ukraine to announce investigations beneficial to the President’s personal and political interests.
“As early as May 2019, President Trump directed the Ambassadors to work with Giuliani on Ukraine policy, and over the course of the summer, an effort was made to extract a public statement from the new Ukrainian president that the Ukrainian government was investigating Burisma or the Biden family and a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 U.S. elections.
“It is clear from their testimony that, in exchange for the statement, President Trump would award the Ukrainian president with a highly coveted White House meeting and, later, with millions of dollars in critical military aid being withheld. Ambassador Sondland called this changing U.S. policy toward Ukraine a ‘continuum’ that became ever more ‘insidious’ over time.
“Finally, with the release of the full production of text messages provided to the Committees by Ambassador Volker, and an additional declaration by Ambassador Sondland, the President’s scheme comes into clearer focus.
“In an effort to prevent further incriminating information from coming to light, the State Department is continuing to obstruct our investigation by refusing to provide subpoenaed records, including additional text messages provided to the Department by Ambassador Sondland. This blanket stonewalling will only continue to build the case against the President for obstruction of Congress, especially in light of the damning evidentiary record the Committees have already gathered.”
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/06/1912:07 AM
Just read a piece which points to the Hunter Biden - Ukraine corruption. John Solomon, right wing investigative reporter, did a FOIA and found State had mentioned Hunter in emails which described the Burisma/Biden connection. According to story Ukraine was trying to investigate Burisma again. Burisma appealed to US State to stop it by using Hunter Biden's name. At same time the Kerry connection stepped in and visited the US. Almost immediately the investigation stopped when VP Biden made his infamous visit. Unfortunately this was not a real investigation so many pieces of evidence were not considered or found.
However, the story is a bit puzzling. First, conservatives are notorious for conflating timelines or distorting timelines to design a narrative they have already concocted. Second, it doesn't make sense that everyone in Europe wanted to replace the Ukrainian prosecutor if he was in fact really prosecuting corruption.
But from a superficial perspective the State Dept emails point to the obviousness of nepotism/cronyism and the effect it has on optics much less the real possibility there could have been some real corruption.
I suspect everyone is in agreement these guys should never have been appointed to board of Burisma. My God ... reminds me of how stupid Sec Clinton was to think she needed a private email server.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/06/1902:04 AM
Originally Posted By: rporter314
...reminds me of how stupid Sec Clinton was to think she needed a private email server.
Pretty much everyone who can fog a mirror agrees that was an asinine decision by Clinton.
While I'm ranting about asinine Liberal pol decisions...
...as was Schiff's parody opening statement during an impeachment hearing recently. The stunt was unprofessional and has allowed conservatives as use the stunt as a talking point.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/06/1904:45 AM
Quote:
Pretty much everyone who can fog a mirror agrees that was an asinine decision by Clinton.
I have actually worked in the field for a long time, and I can tell you that Clinton's email server (that was never hacked) was much more secure than the State Department's computer (that was hacked multiple times). It's a matter of the number of users, all of whom are at risk of being phished. As far as I know, Clinton's server had one email account. The State Department server had thousands. They both had people running commercial security software with updates, so that was equally good, but the number of accounts presents a real problem. Clinton probably knew the State Department email server was not that safe, and she wanted to prevent leaks by hackers.
There was a tempest-rated super secure computer she used at the State Department for secret communications with ambassadors and such. There was never any cross linkage between that encrypted secure traffic and her personal account.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/06/1909:44 PM
Originally Posted By: pondering_it_all
I have actually worked in the field for a long time, and I can tell you that Clinton's email server (that was never hacked) was much more secure than the State Department's computer (that was hacked multiple times). It's a matter of the number of users, all of whom are at risk of being phished. As far as I know, Clinton's server had one email account.
Do you agree that one of the main reasons she wanted her own server is at least partly because she did not want to give up her obsolete Blackberry? Far as I know, aside from that device, Ms. Clinton is not a power user that knows her way around modern internet connected computers and according to at least one or two in the know, she "has people for that".
(And I am trying to be kind in my description of her and computers)
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/06/1911:48 PM
Quote:
Clinton probably knew the State Department email server was not that safe
well actually clueless is the word you are looking for. Her staff gave her a book, email for dummies.
Jeff is right, Sec Clinton did not want to give up her BB, which I presume was because she had become used to it and the learning curve on a new device would have been too much for her limited time resources. That and State did not have BB's which allowed private use. Only later did they have such devices. Anyway she had 17 different electronic communication devices during her tenure, and you can figure out why.
I understood her position, but common sense and the rabid right wing nuts out there should have prevailed, and she should have just bit the bullet and gone with State's system. So what if Fitton found out she did yoga 3 times a week. Frak him.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/07/1904:06 AM
I assume she was not any more sophisticated about internet technology than the usual assortment of politicians in DC. I don't think ANY of our congressmen was an IT professional, and what I have heard coming out of hearings and such shows a shocking level of ignorance in some. Good politicians DO "have people for that" as do a lot of important or powerful people. In fact, she did have an IT professional supporting her server's security.
Just as a laugh: Colin Powell used an AOL account as Secretary of State!
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/07/1905:17 PM
The problem as I saw it was not that she had a pro take care of her server but that she had a server. It simply opened up right wing idiotic rantings for something which would have been easy to avoid. Imagine a private server and it only contained your private emails. Emails you did not want to share with right ing nuts. Picture it. Yep Every right wing nut can now make up whatever lie they want to to describe what you are doing with your server and now it occupies ALL of the public space. Bit the bullet and go through the available government system.
Yes both Sec Powell and C. Rice had public email accounts for private use but apparently Sec Rice never used her account and Sec Powell used his sparingly, and apparently not with staff. More interesting is the use of private email by Kushner and I Trump. ... should I say lock them up???
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/07/1909:02 PM
Originally Posted By: Brad Reed
In a transcript of testimony released on Thursday, Kent recalled how a coordinated campaign attacking Yovanovitch started ramping up this past March, starting with an editorial in The Hill by conservative John Solomon. From there, he said, “both the Hannity Show and the Laura Ingraham show covered this topic extensively.”
Kent also testified that Solomon’s article was loaded with inaccurate information that he says may have even been “entirely made up in full cloth.”
“It was primarily non-truths and non-sequiturs,” he explained.
John Solomon, a major player in the Ukraine Gambit.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/09/1903:38 PM
Originally Posted By: pondering_it_all
I assume she was not any more sophisticated about internet technology than the usual assortment of politicians in DC. I don't think ANY of our congressmen was an IT professional, and what I have heard coming out of hearings and such shows a shocking level of ignorance in some. Good politicians DO "have people for that" as do a lot of important or powerful people. In fact, she did have an IT professional supporting her server's security.
Just as a laugh: Colin Powell used an AOL account as Secretary of State!
But that's the whole point. Secretary Clinton (and President Trump) both pretty much represent the last vestiges of the old typewriter/word processor/day planner book generation of elected officials.
Some time ago they introduced a new thing called email and the Blackberry came along, and her general computer knowledge stopped right about at the place where people of a certain age and mindset just simply stopped maintaining curiosity and desire to learn. She learned how to do email and maybe calendar planning and that was what she wanted. Some people just decide, gradually or even suddenly, that they're not interested in learning new tech, it's just the way it is.
My oldest brother cannot live without his smartphone but he can't even begin to figure out how to operate a new laptop with either Win10 or the latest Apple OS, but his wife who is the about the same age is deft with them both. He had a Blackberry and the conniption fit he threw when he had to figure out a Google Pixel 2 was something you could have bought tickets to see. At one time in the 1970's Peter Haas owned the fastest growing chain of "super Hi-Fi" stereo stores in the Houston Area.
My ex-wife, same exact thing. She passed away two years ago at age 70, but when our marriage fell apart in 1995 she knew how to use WordPerfect, but she never quite got the hang of the internet, even despite family efforts to get her into it to keep in touch. When she died, she still had a flip phone from two generations ago. And this was a "genuine Hollywood starlet", former wife of the guy who associate produced Red Dawn in 1984, who learned to became a showbiz creative office manager, and she could work the phones and schmooze a room full of top celebrities like the pro she was. And all done on paper.
So while it may indeed be true that some resort to outside resources for evil purposes, sometimes it is just a lethal combination of tech-ignorance and old age arrogance that leads down such a path. It is much easier to just go off the reservation and "get the bootleg liquor without the test questions and the forms to fill out". (like they used to have to do in Utah state controlled liquor stores!)
The larger issue here of course is the fact that the USA can no longer afford to elect computer illiterates to public office at such a high level anymore. They do not need to be IT pros but they need to demonstrate a good and solid working knowledge of the tech that most of us take for granted today. They need to have a level of skill in the field sufficient to prevent them from falling prey and they must be able to demonstrate the ability to USE this tech in a constructive way in their everyday duties at least as well as the office staffers they hire.
A logistics manager at a trucking company doesn't need to be a certified diesel mechanic but they at least need to be able to understand that diesel engines are difficult to start in sub-zero temps, they need to know the height and weight dimensions of their trucks, and they need to know that drivers require eight hours of sleep per day.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/09/1904:32 PM
I still have a flip-phone too. I like not having to pay $45/mo for mobile telecommunications and I like not giving my privacy away. I don't belong to Facebook, Twitter, either. I'll probably never, ever have those two snoopy eavesdropping bitches Suri or Alexia in my house, too.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/10/1901:26 AM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
I still have a flip-phone too. I like not having to pay $45/mo for mobile telecommunications and I like not giving my privacy away. I don't belong to Facebook, Twitter, either. I'll probably never, ever have those two snoopy eavesdropping bitches Suri or Alexia in my house, too.
Understood, but you DO know how to operate a personal computer, yes? That was all I was getting at, the computer illiteracy of many "persons of a certain age" who are currently holding elected office at a congressional level or higher.
It is all part of what used to be referred to as our "digital divide" and as it turns out, it's not just an economic divide, it's also divide defined by age. There are plenty of senior citizens who are computer savvy but sadly, there are plenty who never were and never intend to be. And it is also a divide bounded by some very strange belief systems as well, too. There are those who are convinced that our current high tech will destroy the human race. Well...it might, but we might destroy ourselves by other means before it ever gets the chance.
Funny thing just popped into my mind: As much of a motorhead as I happen to be, my son cannot distinguish one type of vehicle from another. A red car is a red car and a brown car is a brown car...that's it as far as he's concerned.
It's not because of a lack of awareness or education. Karen was a Navy diesel mechanic and I grew up as a motorhead so he could have easily become one by osmosis. It just doesn't float his boat, that's all. He couldn't care less, and I think that's probably how it is for our older non-computer folks. It's an "evil TV set with a keyboard" as far as they are concerned.
Daryl says that all cars are just wheels with boxes, to him.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/10/1910:32 PM
Originally Posted By: pdx rick
Originally Posted By: Jeffery J. Haas
...Understood, but you DO know how to operate a personal computer, yes?
I believe my RR posts are pretty legible, my links always work, and sometimes I include piccys. I'm good in that department.
So your continued ownership of a flip phone, in your case, is not a sign of computer illiteracy at all. But...you're a rarity. Most times, when still seen today, it's a sign that a person's enthusiasm for new tech ground to a halt a generation ago or that they can't afford an upgrade.
My recently departed Aunt stayed firmly in the vacuum tube and rotary dial era till her last day.
(the phone in the basement)
She could afford an upgrade. She had no intention of ever doing so.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/11/1903:56 AM
LOL
I have been wireless since 2000. It was my mother's phone. The hard line had degraded until there was nothing but static when I switched her to wireless.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/12/1908:08 AM
I have a flip phone, but it's because I think spending $100 per month so you can watch movies on a screen suitable for ants is idiotic. If I want to watch TV or movies, I have a 40" TV connected to Netflix and the internet, and a laptop with a great big monitor on my desk.
I had an android phone but this one I have now costs me $15 per month!
It's funny because I have actually worked on a lot of this technology. Not "with it", but developing the software inside the cell phone and modem chips. But personally, there are several hi-tech things I just never wanted. Never played video games, either, though I have been messing with computers since about 1968.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/12/1903:19 PM
Originally Posted By: pondering_it_all
I have a flip phone, but it's because I think spending $100 per month so you can watch movies on a screen suitable for ants is idiotic. If I want to watch TV or movies, I have a 40" TV connected to Netflix and the internet, and a laptop with a great big monitor on my desk.
I had an android phone but this one I have now costs me $15 per month!
It's funny because I have actually worked on a lot of this technology. Not "with it", but developing the software inside the cell phone and modem chips. But personally, there are several hi-tech things I just never wanted. Never played video games, either, though I have been messing with computers since about 1968.
I've even considered going back to a 2G phone of some kind but I still find myself, NOT WATCHING movies, but instead looking up stuff on the internet when I need to, taking pictures from time to time when I don't have the camera handy, so I still need the expanded capabilities of a 4G unit. But I am not paying anywhere near a hundred a month, more like 35 a month.
Look guys, I didn't mean to sound mean by singling out flip-phone users just to belittle the use of flip-phones. I was saying that we can't afford to elect people for whom mastering a smartphone is a daunting obstacle.
For people of that mindset, mastering new tech is so unthinkable that some of them have resorted to hiring staff just to do it for them, and some others have resorted to unethical and potentially illegal practices to get around it.
You guys aren't on the wrong side of the digital divide due to hidebound ignorance, you're on the lower side by choice and by virtue of simple pragmatism. You're computer savvy. I'm convinced that the Hillarys, Bidens and Trumps of this world...ain't.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/12/1903:50 PM
Originally Posted By: pondering_it_all
I have a flip phone, but it's because I think spending $100 per month so you can watch movies on a screen suitable for ants is idiotic. If I want to watch TV or movies, I have a 40" TV connected to Netflix and the internet, and a laptop with a great big monitor on my desk.
I had an android phone but this one I have now costs me $15 per month!
It's funny because I have actually worked on a lot of this technology. Not "with it", but developing the software inside the cell phone and modem chips. But personally, there are several hi-tech things I just never wanted. Never played video games, either, though I have been messing with computers since about 1968.
I'm like you, all I have is a flip phone. I wouldn't even have that if my daughter hadn't gave it to me so the wife could call me at Ft. McPherson and tell me to get milk and bread from the Commissary.
When I'm outside or working, doing something, the last thing I want is a phone call unless it's an emergency. If I want to watch TV, I go inside and turn on the TV. If I want to mess with the computer, I'll go inside and turn the computer on. If I want to watch movies, I can do that on the TV and on the computer. I love watching old 1950's scifi and horror flicks along with the old TV westerns of the same decade.
I'm probably about as old fashioned as one can get.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/12/1905:23 PM
Quote:
I had an android phone but this one I have now costs me $15 per month!
MY android phone costs me $12.73 a month. I can text, email, read the news, read a book, watch porn or even make a phone call...but who actually makes phone calls anymore?
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/12/1910:44 PM
You really want to know what modern tech I think about giving up even more? My 2007 Prius hybrid, that's what!
I bought it back in 2012 when I was still putting in between 50 and 200 miles round trip every day. Now, thanks to my bad eyesight and hearing, I am pretty much a "retired" film editor and a "retired" DP, so it's a shock if I put more than 250 miles a MONTH on that car, and by the way, that use profile is HORRIBLE for a Prius, especially for the HV traction battery.
I just don't need that car anymore and it's about as fun to drive as a Roomba, or it would be if I was a cat. It's not even AS fun as riding on a Roomba. And I just know my sparse use profile is killing the hybrid battery anyway.
I'd be happy with a little scooter or some ancient used mini-pickup or some old heap for my little trips back and forth to the grocery and hardware store. We have Karen's van for serious long trips.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/13/1903:03 AM
Trade it in and get a used Leaf. They are no-gas plug-ins that can go about 120 miles on a new battery. If you get an old one, they have less range. But plenty for your needs. They are cheap. I see 2011 and 2012 Leafs going for about what you can get for your 2007 Prius.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/13/1906:15 PM
Originally Posted By: pondering_it_all
Trade it in and get a used Leaf. They are no-gas plug-ins that can go about 120 miles on a new battery. If you get an old one, they have less range. But plenty for your needs. They are cheap. I see 2011 and 2012 Leafs going for about what you can get for your 2007 Prius.
I've been considering it but I think once again, since I don't do any regular commutes, it's probably more than I need. All I really need is to get to the supermarket and the drug store. That's like maybe two or three miles away. I am betting a nice scooter would fit the bill fine. We have perfect scooter weather most of the time.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/14/1903:53 AM
Oh by the way!! I did peak at just shy of 250 pounds but as of this morning, yours truly is weighing in at 208. In the next thirty days I shall be under 200 pounds. I think I will even venture a number next week. I would very much like to hit 185 but I will be satisfied with 190.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/14/1905:34 AM
Originally Posted By: Jeffery J. Haas
Oh by the way!! I did peak at just shy of 250 pounds but as of this morning, yours truly is weighing in at 208. In the next thirty days I shall be under 200 pounds. I think I will even venture a number next week. I would very much like to hit 185 but I will be satisfied with 190.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/15/1903:43 AM
Originally Posted By: logtroll
Originally Posted By: Jeffery J. Haas
Oh by the way!! I did peak at just shy of 250 pounds but as of this morning, yours truly is weighing in at 208.
So, what's your secret?
I just stopped eating "my three meals a day" and went back to the eating habits I used to have as a single guy. Karen and I had gotten so used to making dinner for the kids, but our kids are grown now, they are adults. So I told Karen, do not feel obligated to be "Mommy making din din every night" because these young adults know how to shop and how to cook for themselves.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/20/1905:19 AM
At this point, trying to get Trump fluffers to accept facts is akin to stirring a pot of boiling spaghetti and seeing Pennywise the Clown and The Tidy Bowl Man rowboating around the noodles while they blow each other. It is hard to be prepared for the level of bubble deafness you encounter, and you begin to hallucinate.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/20/1908:20 PM
Working class Republicans are about the most gullible folks to ever walk the planet, bless their hearts. They'll believe anything a rich man tells them. You've gotta kinda feel sorry for 'em. Because the aims and goals of The Party are anathema to the working class. Aims and goals of the DNC aren't much different but at least Democrats know they're getting screwed.
[quote]But he repeated his assertion that Ukrainians might have hacked the Democratic National Committee’s network in 2016 and framed Russia for the crime, a theory his own advisers have dismissed.[/quyote]
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/23/1912:08 AM
the base ... hmmm
just had a "conversation" with a Trump supporter. I happened to overhear him saying something to the effect it is a waste of money for Democrats to investigate Mr Trump because the Senate will acquit him. So I had to ask ... does he believe you should allow any elected official to run criminal organizations from their elected office? His response was everyone does it, as if that justifies corruption. He immediately went to Pres Obama and said he was corrupt, so I had to ask, what crime did he commit? Then came the pivot ... he was "queer" .... I say whaaaa? Not enough he continued by saying Michelle Obama is a man. I say double whaaaa? Of course he interjected Pres Obama was not born in America.
I mean do ya get the picture. Where is Senator Hatrack? He needs to talk to these people because it is hard for me to believe this guy was serious in his belief.
Yes the Trump Base is as ignorant as a box of rocks and there is no point in even trying to discuss anything with them.
I mean his proof was ... there are no pictures of Michelle pregnant ... o and one of her fingers was the wrong length so she is definitely a man
Yes and these are the people who are voting for Mr Trump.
Breaking via NYT: The DOJ IG report "debunks a series of conspiracy theories and insinuations about the FBI that Mr. Trump and his allies have put forward." IG Horowitz "made no finding of politically biased actions" by top Comey, McCabe and Strzok.
At the same time, however, the report debunks a series of conspiracy theories and insinuations about the F.B.I. that Mr. Trump and his allies have put forward over the past two years
So the Ukraine hoax is now a known case of Russian GRU espionage level agitprop, Nunes is implicated in the Giuliani scheme and the entire deep state CT is now exposed as a total fraud.
There isn't a toilet large enough in the entire galaxy for a bucket of turds this size. But there are cages large enough to house a couple hundred compromised Congressmen and Senators. We know there are because they're the ones who paid for them with our money.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/23/1906:34 AM
The handcuffs are going to come out for a good many Republican Congressmen and Senators.
"Handcuff them? Who's going to do that? Barr? You're kidding yourself!"
I am beginning to get a gut feeling Barr will be in handcuffs as well. It is very likely that, on a sunny and humid day in Washington DC in 1973, more than a few people were asking themselves, "Handcuff them? Who's going to do that? John N. Mitchell? You're kidding yourself!"
On February 21, 1975, Mitchell, who was represented by the criminal defense attorney William G. Hundley, was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury and sentenced to two and a half to eight years in prison for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up, which he dubbed the "White House horrors." As a result of the conviction, Mitchell was disbarred from the practice of law in New York. The sentence was later reduced to one to four years by United States district court Judge John J. Sirica. Mitchell served only 19 months of his sentence at Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery (in Maxwell Air Force Base) in Montgomery, Alabama, a minimum-security prison, before being released on parole for medical reasons.
It took some time but the fact that he was indeed charged, arrested, tried, convicted and incarcerated shows that it is still possible for the arc of justice to bend toward the truth. So okay, Barr himself might TRY to prevent arrests, but he must know that at some point they're going to come for him. And this time, it may even be sooner rather than later because this is no longer a case of just breaking into an office anymore. This is much much larger than the Watergate break-in.
Not to mention, once the smoke clears from the wreckage of former President Trump's administration, Barr may also be charged as a criminal co-conspirator or at the very least, a criminally negligent accessory in the murder of Jeffrey Epstein, too. Right at this present time Barr certainly will have built firewalls around that but those firewalls will evaporate like a marshmalow in a cyclotron precisely on November 3rd, 2020. And he will be naked, and afraid.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/23/1910:59 AM
According to CNN, Lev Parnas' lawyer Joseph Bondy, that Parnas is willing to testify before Congress that Nunes met with “a former Ukrainian prosecutor to discuss digging up dirt on Joe Biden."
Quote:
Bondy said that Parnas was told directly by the former Ukrainian official that he met last year in Vienna with Rep. Devin Nunes.
“Mr. Parnas learned from former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin that Nunes had met with Shokin in Vienna last December,” said Bondy…
Bondy tells CNN that his client and Nunes began communicating around the time of the Vienna trip. Parnas says he worked to put Nunes in touch with Ukrainians who could help Nunes dig up dirt on Biden and Democrats in Ukraine, according to Bondy.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/23/1911:41 AM
A 100-page trove of State Department documents was released on Friday to the nonpartisan watchdog group American Oversight. The documents, which were part of a FOIA lawsuit for all Trump administration dealings on Ukraine, include multiple emails of Pompeo’s call schedule, showing the nation’s top diplomat holding calls with Giuliani - just like Gordy Sondland testified to at Wednesday's Congressional hearing.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/23/1905:31 PM
Quote:
The handcuffs are going to come out for a good many Republican Congressmen and Senators.
Don't get your hopes up, pard'ner. Even if they were, a whole new crop of them are waiting in the wings. Most of these investigations will blow over and the rest will be handled by the many corrupt judges being appointed in record numbers by an equally corrupt Senate.
2020 will give us a temporary course change, we'll be able to slap a few bandaids on a few wounds before Republicans take the helm again. Then we'll do it all over again.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/23/1906:45 PM
OK ... I sloshed the facts over my brain for a quick readout and it doesn't compute ... yet.
Rep Nunes has been working the Biden Gambit for a while, dating back probably to May 2018. So why would Mr Trump conspire with Giuliani to work the Gambit through Ukraine? Was this a 2 pronged attack? One working strictly from private sources, the other using government resources?
Maybe the Nunes Initiative got nowhere in the private sphere and Mr Trump decided VP Biden represented a greater danger to his occupation early this year to wait on private dirt. This was the only quick synapses firing result.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/23/1906:53 PM
Originally Posted By: rporter314
So why would Mr Trump conspire with Giuliani to work the Gambit through Ukraine? Was this a 2 pronged attack? One working strictly from private uses...
That's correct. The quid pro quo was initiated on two front: US Diplomatic channels and Trump's private back-door channels through Rudy Colludy.
Amb. Yovanovitch stood in the way of Trump's own corruption that he sent Giuliani over to Ukraine to further. Trump initially had his corrupt Ukrainian official, prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko, but Lutsenko lost his job and Trump had to start over.
THAT is why Amb. Yovanovich had to go, she stood in the way of Trump's Plan B which was to get to the newly-elected President of Ukraine to publicly state an investigation into the Biden's AND to clear Russia of the US Intel Community's fact-finding evidence that Russia DID interfere in our 2016 election.
The pressure that Trump asserted on Ukraine President Z was to withhold the Javelins that Congress approved in February 2019 and the DoD certified in May 2019 as having met the corruption reform threshold to be awarded the aid.
Rudy Giuliani’s indicted associate Lev Parnas is prepared to tell Congress that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) met with a former Ukrainian prosecutor who was ousted over corruption concerns in a bid to get dirt on Joe Biden, CNN reported Friday.
Trump really IS draining the swamp... by getting all the swap monsters sent to prison!
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 11/23/1910:15 PM
Quote:
Trump initially had his corrupt Ukrainian official, prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko, but Lutsenko lost his job
I dont think this timeline is accurate.
Lutsenko resigned as Prosecutor General in Nov 2018. He first talked to Giuliani in Jan 2019. However Lutsenko had previously cast some aspersions on Hunter Biden in regard to Burisma. Lutsenko met with Giuliani in Feb 2019 and later one more time briefly in Europe. By May 2019 Lutsenko had changed his story by saying he believed Hunter Biden had not broken an Ukrainian laws.
Of course by May 2019 the Ukraine Gambit was in full deployment, having successfully deposed the recalcitrant Ambassador.
I have not finalized a conclusion on whether Mr Trump believes the Ukraine Conspiracy narrative or he uses it as a pretext for useful political dirty works against VP Biden. One may point to the last move in the Gambit i.e. just get the announcement , as proof that was all he wanted. As a narcissist he would almost have to believe he won the election all on his very own, without any help from the Russians, and any story which represents the Russians actually helping would be met with derision and hypercritical tweeting.
Any chance to undermine the prevailing narrative from the IC and MSM the Russians not only meddled in the election but helped him win the election would play directly into his delusion. It is easy to figure out and explain the why of his actions but more difficult to find the predicating framework which inspires his delusions.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 12/04/1904:09 AM
Has anyone ever questioned the irony of the liberal class righteous indignation or unquestioning rightward drift taking place as it loses their mind over Trump occupying the whitehouse? I mean, has anyone even heard them question the wisdom of supplying weapons to a former soviet state gone hard right to begin with? A government rewriting the role of their fascist death squads during ww2 now recognized as national hero’s by the current government? I know Trump bad and all that but have the libs ever questioned the wisdom of arming neonazis, they are so offended withholding military aid from, that it has ignited their impeachment quest? Has any brain broke liberal asked these questions?
I just wonder how far Libs have wandered into impeachment Narnia, do they even recognize how they are now supporting fascists in the Ukraine as well as other places in the world.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 12/04/1905:43 AM
Quote:
Libs have wandered into impeachment Narnia
Two different issues.
Regardless of the context, should any president abuse the public trust, they should be held accountable.
Support for regimes which do not comport with American values and ideals is a separate question. There is a level of complexity associated with probably most of these type countries which involves an extensive discussion. In the case of Ukraine, one can easily see they are on the front line of an aggressive nation state which is our political enemy. Should we simply allow Russia to use the Sudetenland Ruse to encroach on western europe. I suspect these are tough choices (to most folks except perhaps Mr Trump).
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 12/04/1902:25 PM
Yes, it is two separate issues. It’s revealing, though, which one has been the most important.
It’s been said we live in a post truth world now. You could also say we’ve been living in a context free world.
The case of impeachment has always been a sketchy one with no discussion at all about wether it’s been wise to charge him with liberal debate squad infractions when there’s been plenty of real crimes he’d been guilty of. Setting aside the choices libs have made here and why, I don’t recall any one raising the question of what we’re doing in the Ukraine in the first place. We’re over there at Russia’s door step. We were not supposed to expand NATO up to their borders when the wall came down. I even remember the debates over wether Russia would be made a member of the EU back in the nineties. Now we have actually placed military on the traditional invasion routes into Russia after American hedge funds went into the country, stripped out its public goods and assets thru privatization, caused massive hardships thru neoliberal austerity and basically helped turn the country into a mafia state. Now libs are pretending that the Ukraine is some bastion of democracy we’re supporting with weaponry. Say what you want about the president and the incompetent criminality of the administration, but you could also argue the Libs being equally criminal with their framing of arguments and willingness to support fascist regimes. Again, libs live in a brain broke, context free, reactionary world. Wild to watch them throw in with fascists.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 12/04/1905:40 PM
Ukraine...The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
We cannot directly wage war on Russia. They cannot directly wage war on us...But we can arm their neighbors and get a little quid pro quo in the bargain...they can interfere in our elections and make a little cash in the bargain...Vlad gotta be laughin' his ass off over all this.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 12/04/1906:21 PM
My guess is Vlad is aware of his history and has been very troubled with the military posture and location of the US.
Who wouldn’t?
Who are the enemies of Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia that we’ve supported Christian Right wing neonazis over there (inconvenient to point out) more leftists democratically elected governments?
No, libs are truly in Narnia when it comes to these events and our bipartisan involvement with them.
I heard either Hedges or Frank remark that the Weimar German liberal class was the most read and edjucated in Europe. It’s worth mentioning that, when push came to shove then and now, the classic liberal position is a reactionary rightward direction.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 12/04/1910:14 PM
There's never really been much difference between the parties as far as global politics is concerned, not really that much difference in domestic policy either.
One of the parties might be marginally better than the other.
My goal in the near future is to get that party into power then hold their toes to the fire to make them better than they are now and better than they have been. It may be futile but I can hope.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 12/05/1909:00 AM
Quote:
There's never really been much difference between the parties as far as global politics is concerned, not really that much difference in domestic policy either.
A few years ago that was pretty much the case, but now one of the Parties has Trump leading them into mutual psychosis. Getting back to reality is going to be very painful for them after Trump goes full-on bonkers.
Re: The Trump/Biden/Ukraine thing - 12/06/1903:20 PM
Originally Posted By: pondering_it_all
Quote:
There's never really been much difference between the parties as far as global politics is concerned, not really that much difference in domestic policy either.
A few years ago that was pretty much the case, but now one of the Parties has Trump leading them into mutual psychosis. Getting back to reality is going to be very painful for them after Trump goes full-on bonkers.
One party?
Again, there is no context anymore but you can comment on the immediate for now, and I see the liberal class as having equally lost their minds by challenging the president from the right.
This framing of Russia as an aggressor when we have broken pledges (no surprise here) and pushed narratives that are weak and flimsy at best and dangerous worst of all could be seen as mentally unstable. We are now in a new atomic arms race with Russia with the weapons makers cheering it o and there has been crickets about this.
We have drastically reduced launch response time with the drive for faster missle speed and AI monitoring. No discussion.
We have other countries interfering far more than Russia that's visible and palpable in our politics that goes unreported.
We have ringed an extremely dangerous country with our military and Navy but Libs are calling them the aggressor country?
We have armed reactionary, fascist elements in countries past and present to overthrow democratically elected governments, while the rending of clothes and nashing of teeth goes on in the Liberal camps over 'the threats to Democracy'.
Here's Pozner giving his assessment to the current U.S./Russian relationship and how we've arrived here. A conversation at Yale university in 2018.
He gives much needed context and I agree with his assessment with the lack of any progress being made here due to the older generations' biases and propaganda exposure.