Republicans are whining about the emails getting released.

Nixon didn’t break into the Watergate hotel, he just tried to cover it up.

There is already good reason to believe that the Trump campaign collided with the Russians.

And good reason to believe Trump is actively trying to cover it up.

I think there is even more than we know about.

The cover-up is often much easier to prove, and those crimes are also felonies, so that a criminal cannot profit from destroying evidence and manipulating the public record.

But outside of the law, which hardly follows its own rules in the United States, a cover-up is a rational tool that can be used to reveal motivations. The penalty for the cover-up means that the crime being concealed has to be AT LEAST as bad, or the perpetrator would not risk concealing the evidence.

From that point of view, at least, it's open-and-shut. Logically, they're guilty; legally, I'm still nearly certain they'll get away with everything.

A corrupt congress will most likely not press the legal case against Trump as they are guilty of taking Russian money too.

The entire Republican Party just went to the mat to get a ped elected Senator. Obviously, remaining in power is far more important than any moral or ethical consideration.

All I have to do is ask, "why," to feel a chill of terrible certainty.

They care nothing for America or its citizens.
Care nothing for rule of law, the constitution, democracy.

But what really alarms me is that the GOP is no longer even trying to justify itself to its constituents. They're relying purely upon deception and manipulation of public opinion.

Going by recent history, those tax cuts have a 50% chance of crashing out the stock market next October and they are nearly certain to cause another giant recession within 4-7 years. The primary victims are going to be Republican voters, because their middle- and working-class jobs are going to be the first to be liquidated in the name of profits.

The billionaires who pushed this through, and who own the GOP, know from the examples of 1992 and 2008 that the tax cut is going to cause political backlash that results in the revocation of those tax cuts. Only this time, the Republican Party is on a trajectory to be a regional front group for the Klan in four to seven years.

So what's their plan to keep sucking the lifeblood of America, with a literally dying political base? The only plan I can see is dismantling the Republic itself before the Democrats can come back to punish them for it.

Then they let the Dems win who restore the economy and fill the piggy bank again. Then the cycle starts all over.

that you don't want public.

Emails are forever — even if you delete them.

and over.

They have gotten away with so much criminal activity they are surprised when they are called on it.

Trump’s contempt for the FBI blinds him to how good they are at building a case.

and should have a bit more awareness.

I know they have gotten away with everything before, and cannot wrap their heads around consequences. And Trump is mentally ill, delusional and lives in his own world.

But still you would think that the rest of the family, and staff, would not be so stupid and naive.

where people can be more easily intimidated and bought off with a settlement.

When they moved to Washington, the high-priced lawyers with experience wouldn't work for them.

and make himself look good. He is doing that now, hoping to embolden his base into protecting him.

So the WashDC lawyers would not touch him?
Trump is president, is rich, why wouldn't an attorney take him on as a client?

it was reported from several sources that supposedly Trump "wouldn't take lawyers advice, and wouldn't pay his fees."

About what you'd expect from a grifter like Trump. Won't listen, won't shut up, welches on his debts.

Lawyers take on stupid, rich clients who won't listen to them every day.
As long as there are a lot of billable hours and prompt payment, they don't care.

It was fine to do backroom deals in smoky rooms with State's AGs looking the other way at practices that were borderline illegal...and stiffing your contractors and employees because you're lawyered out the wazoo and can just bleed them dry until they cut their losses.

That's kid stuff.

Now they're in the big leagues, and if they are too stupid to figure out that Russia plays for keeps, then they deserve everything they get. They are lightweights. Little Jared is in way over his head. And Donny Two Scoops still thinks he's playing on a game show. We're not playing at "Godfather: the Reality Show." This is for keeps.

Fucking idiots.

And arrogant.

The bestest ever people!

(did I really need that? )

I know we are discussing the law, but all of this is now more psychology than legal.

No Bear, you did not need the sarcasm thingy.

That about sums up the "psychology" of the family.

Basically, we're watching a reality TV version of "Death of a Salesman" play out in the White House.

government is loyal to them.

BTW, there was nothing illegal about Muller getting the .gov emails - listened to arguments of several lawyers/federal prosecutors over the weekend, and they all said that a government (Mueller) to government (GAO) is 100% legal.

They all said that if the Trump lawyers truly believed something was illegal, they would have filed papers with the court. Instead they sent a letter to Congress.

in the court of public opinion with a vicious PR campaign.

Last edited Mon Dec 18, 2017, 10:05 PM - Edit history (1)

the worst presidential legal team ever. Couple that with stupid, entitled clients and you have a perfect storm.

The lawyers surely knew that Mueller's getting the emails was legal; if they didn't tell Trump that constitutes legal malpractice. Of course, there's always the possibility that they did, and Trump simply ignored them because he lives by the voices in his head telling him what he wants to hear.

They believe Faux Nooze lies. They believe their own lies and fantasies. They believe everything they read on WingnutFeverDreams.com. So actual reality completely surprises them.

It would not surprise if they set up the meeting with Trump's lawyers and Mueller's team this week in order to ask how soon the "letter of exoneration" is coming.

naive is mind boggling.

And yes, I believe that Trump's people will go into the meeting with Mueller asking for the letter, even expecting it.

Mueller was trained in guerilla warfare, and tested in the jungles of Viet Nam.
He was very successful fighting asymmetrical battles.

I read that Mueller got the emails from the govt server, and they date AFTER the election. So there won't be any campaign emails. And although the Trump team is and was stupid, I'm not so sure that people like Flynn sent insidious emails over the official government server. He might have. And Jr. and Kushner might have.

But as far as smoking guns related to Russia, that was over on election day...unless there are emails about about paying Russia for what it did. But would they have sent emails about that over a government server?

I'm just not as sure as some others that those emails will be fruitful...and I'm surprised that Trump's lawyers wouldn't have known that the Special Prosecutor could get govt-owned emails and documents.

They're not just not the sharpest tools in the shed, they're the ones left outside of it to rust in the rain and snow.

A Guiliani stooge.
Problem is he died recently.
So Mueller LEGALLY obtained the emails from GSA without the toadie there to intercept and filter them.
Now Mueller's giving them the rope to hang themselves with.

... was after the election.

You're right these aren't campaign emails but there's no doubt there's more than just a couple of instances where campaign issues were talked about during the transition

In addition to implicating themselves by discussing how helpful the russians were before the election, they may have discussed how to repay them and what russia wants in return.

We still had a sitting president, and it was illegal to interfere with him by setting up a shadow govt. Making contacts is ok, asking for actions in return for future favors is not.

Also, lying to investigators is pretty dumb, and the emails will document the lies.

So there is a LOT that could be criminal in those emails. We won't know until charges get filed or the emails are made public. Neither of which may ever happen if muehler is removed.

...and it takes a year to settle it.

Mueller knew everyone was lying before he was special counsel. The whole investigation begins with investigating collusion lies. When they requested material from Trump and friends, they already had the material and any withholding of material constituted another felony.

I heard that once.

Papadopoulos WITH THEIR CONSENT. Flynn was a big shot during the transition and was most likely cc'd on just about everything. Emails. What karma.

turn over some of the big fish--maybe even some of the GOP House and Senate players.

I hate McConnell most of all.

This little heart of mine
I'm going to let it shine