Mega-Thread: Mueller investigation

[Rukh]

The only bad part is the GOP members will do their best to frame him as a liar who is unreliable and can’t be trusted. Which ignores the fact that this reporting doesn’t rely on Cohen and comes from multiple sources.

Considering it looks like this is based on a mountain of evidence and Cohen is only confirming what was already found, they're going to look real dumb if they do.

[FeedsOnDevTears]

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article...?ref=bfnsplash

And now we have evidence that Trump suborned perjury...

High crimes and misdemeanors anyone?

Not just that. Check Article II, Section 4 again. "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Even under modern very narrow definitions of political bribery, sanctions and Ukraine for a Trump Tower Moscow deal is a quid pro quo.

It becomes clearer every day that Trump is not a legitimate President.

[kaelleria]

I'm hearing they have text messages going back and forth between people in the trump org in regards to instructions

[Rukh]

Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 7, 2017, that he was only “peripherally aware” of the plan to build a tower in Moscow. “Most of my knowledge has been gained since as it relates to hearing about it over the last few weeks.”

The two law enforcement sources disputed this characterization and said that he and Cohen had multiple, detailed conversations on this subject during the campaign.

This is also direct perjury in front of congress. Good times.

[Benggaul]

[Thepersona]

This shit is big... Right? Last 2 years have jaded my sense of wonder
Also, gotta say something ... The skroe ban delivers, yet again

[Benggaul]

This shit is big... Right? Last 2 years have jaded my sense of wonder

Honestly, it's ALL been pretty big the past 2 years. The problem is/was that the people responsible for punishing him for it have been unwilling to do so. Now that the Dems have the House there will at least be SOME culpability if Mueller's investigation (or any of the others) prove wrongdoing. Perhaps the GOP will come 'round and start doing their part, but first they need to stop being beholden to McConnell since he's obviously compromised, whether by bribery, blackmail or greed.

[Wyrt]

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article...?ref=bfnsplash

And now we have evidence that Trump suborned perjury...

High crimes and misdemeanors anyone?

Accessory liability and conspiracy. Trump is guilty. LOCK HIM UP! LOCK HIM UP!

He's fucking done. His only out is the Republican party declaring that the President is above the law.

[Paranoid Android]

The first article of impeachment against Nixon was just this: obstruction by directing others to lie. This is not hysteria or hyperventilating. It’s history.

https://twitter.com/jmeacham/status/...801057280?s=19

Presidential historian Jon Meacham.

[Shalcker]

If the names Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP don't sound familiar...well, I get that. But they are a legal firm that helped Manafort lobby on behalf of Russia, and whoops, they forgot to register as foreign agents, and now they have retroactively done so and that comes with $4.6 million in "late fees" aka "taxes you should have paid for taking foreign money but lied about".

...
Skadden has admitted to acting as an agent of the Ukrainian government
...

Wow. Really not paying to be in business with Manafort.

Yeah, it's silly for how long Ukrainian interference in US politics has gone unchecked!

[Breccia]

High crimes and misdemeanors anyone?

I'm not @Skroe but if I was, I would probably say something like this:

We have waited in baited breath for nearly two years for Mueller to deliver the goods. And it promises to be a saga that will be taught in history books 100 years from now. But this Buzzfeed report stands above everything. It will need to be confirmed, though the two reporters behind it extremely credible (one won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting in 2016, the other was a finalist in 2017). It needs to be sniffed out as to if this is intentional "fake news" that the Trump cult puts out to ensnare reporters to discredit them. But in all likelihood it is not. In all likelihood the report is accurate.

And if so, waiting for Mueller's reconstruction of the Trump-Russia saga is almost besides the point now. If any President instructed any man to lie to Congress under oath on his behalf on any issue, that President cannot be President anymore, or we are not a nation of laws. It is that simple. There is no wiggle room in this. The act is disqualifying, regardless of the reason. The claim must be investigated immediately and Congress must subpoena Mueller for what he has on this issue. If it is found credible, Trump must resign or be removed, full Mueller report be damned. If not, then there is no point to the United States anymore. It's as simple as that.

Here's hoping this is the big one. In a country with even minimum standards still standing, where laws mattered, it would be.

Hmm...close, but not quite. Missing just a little something extra, like the rainbow sprinkles on an otherwise simple but tasty chocolate glazed donut. Let's see...

Also Trump probably really wishes Nancy Pelsoi and Congressional Democrats were flying to the other side of the planet about now. He grounded them, and now they just get to stay in DC and deal with Trump apparently committing a major crime.

He really walked right into that one.

Yep, that looks just about perfect. That looks almost exactly like something he'd say.

We'll know if the Buzzfeed article is accurate soon enough: Cohen is due to testify, and it seems likely this will come up.

- - - Updated - - -

If the buzzFeed story is true, President Trump must resign or be impeached.

-- Rep. Joaqin Castro, HIC

[FeedsOnDevTears]

Yeah, it's silly for how long Ukrainian interference in US politics has gone unchecked!

Just to clarify things for anyone who thinks Shalcker is in any way touching on the truth here (pro tip.: he isn't):

The Ukrainian government that Manafort and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom were lobbying for was a Russian puppet regime. That's actually in the original article as the first paragraph,

A prominent law firm that helped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lobby on behalf of pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine has agreed to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department.

Specifically, that was the government of Victor Yanukovych that Manafort helped elect,

A U.S. embassy cable sent from Kiev to Washington in 2006 described Manafort’s job as giving an “extreme makeover” to a presidential hopeful named Viktor Yanukovych, who had the backing of the Kremlin and most of Ukraine’s wealthiest tycoons. His Party of Regions, the cable said, was “a haven” for “mobsters and oligarchs.”

Making things harder for Manafort were the candidate’s rough manners and criminal past, which had dimmed his chances of winning elections. Oafish and inarticulate, Yanukovych had served jail time in his youth for theft and battery. He also had a hard time speaking Ukrainian – the national language – as he had grown up in the Russian-speaking province of Donetsk.

Does this guy remind you of anyone? Wait, there's more! As President, Yanukovych enriched himself and his family, tried to cut ties to the EU, and jailed his popular but divisive female opponent. After he was removed from power in 2014, he fled to Russia with the help of the Russian government.

Maybe he and Trump can get together there?

[kaelleria]

What I'm really liking about this story is the fact that Barr just said to multiple senators that if anyone, including the president, directed someone to lie under oath it would be obstruction of justice.

[Somewhatconcerned]

Man, gotta wait to see how this all plays out obviously....but all of this just to secure a lousy Trump Tower in Moscow?

Stupid Watergate indeed.

[Ripster42]

Man, gotta wait to see how this all plays out obviously....but all of this just to secure a lousy Trump Tower in Moscow?

Stupid Watergate indeed.

Well, that, and according to the steele dossier (and the billion dollar loan from qatar), lots of money from the commission of the sale of some of rosneft (that just so coincidentally was sold and repurchased by russia) and help with the election.

[Shalcker]

Just to clarify things for anyone who thinks Shalcker is in any way touching on the truth here (pro tip.: he isn't):

The Ukrainian government that Manafort and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom were lobbying for was a Russian puppet regime. That's actually in the original article as the first paragraph,

Sorry, but Russia doesn't do "puppet regimes". Because they got no competency to do puppeteering.

At most Russia entices with loans (or, occasionally, with loan forgiveness - some 10+ trillions of roubles were forgiven in last few decades) and various forms of subsidies.

Yanukovich enticement when he "cut ties with EU" was 15 billions $ in loans + decades of paid work for Ukrainian high-tech industry in modernizing Russian military - something to which EU had absolutely no counter-offer.

Specifically, that was the government of Victor Yanukovych that Manafort helped elect,
...
Does this guy remind you of anyone? Wait, there's more! As President, Yanukovych enriched himself and his family, tried to cut ties to the EU, and jailed his popular but divisive female opponent. After he was removed from power in 2014, he fled to Russia with the help of the Russian government.

Not much different from your puppet Poroshenko then who enriched himself and his family as well (and currently has even worse ratings then Yanukovich had at the time of being ousted) and jailed plenty of opposition (and plenty of old higher-ups from Party of Regions got "suicided" as well).

Hell, he even jailed his possible "popular but divisive" opponent Nadya Savchenko (whom he previously "exchanged" from Russia in detainee swap).

And, guess what? Poroshenko's government was on Clinton's side, doing photo-ops with her and helping with attacks on Trump's campaign - it is their (quite possibly false) information that got Manafort removed from his campaign post.

So it's not like Ukraine stopped meddling after Yanukovich either...

[Korlok]

Did anyone else smell the odor of rotting turnips all of a sudden?

[cubby]

If they have hard-evidence of this and this reporting is accurate, Trump is fucked. Unless the GOP decide to openly declare that Trump is above the law and they won't hold him accountable for anything.

Agreed. That's about their only two choices. Get on the Impeachment train or admit Nixon was right all along. The President is above the law.

On a side note, this would be one of a few big ticket items that could give the GOP a reason to start sliding away from the President. Suborning perjury is a no-brainer crime - a state and federal felony.

I really hope BussFeed's exclusive is independently confirmed.

Second side note: these stories coming out, @Skroe mentioned a week or so ago that we would start seeing articles like this coming out, that might have been held back previously at the request of Justice Department officials.

- - - Updated - - -

It's not out of a fealty to Trump. This is self preservation for them. There's more to this RNC/NRA/Russia thing than is currently known and Trump is their perceived out.

Agreed. There has to more than just what is out in the public.

A point the Democrats will hammer home every time it is brought up.

Republicans will look awfully weak.

Multiple sources, plus Cohen might have recordings. If he has any tapes that confirm this, I would say that might be the smoking gun. Can't deny a recording.

[PACOX]

Imagine if the story that does him in actually came first from Buzzfeed. Not surprising considering how crazy this timeline is. You can't even readily dismiss the story because of other things that have happened. All you can say is, "we Trump better hope Cohen doesn't come with the receipts".

[Edge-]

Imagine if the story that does him in actually came first from Buzzfeed. Not surprising considering how crazy this timeline is. You can't even readily dismiss the story because of other things that have happened. All you can say is, "we Trump better hope Cohen doesn't come with the receipts".

It's crazy. Buzzfeed has staffed up with some extremely talented reporters/investigative journalists for their proper news page. It pains me that they're associated with "Buzzfeed" because everyone instantly thinks of shitty listicles and quizzes that they always post, but they have legit as fuck journalists doing legit as fuck reporting and breaking some seriously big stories.

I see them continually dismissed because of "Buzzfeed", but they are not to be ignored.