Mega-Thread: Mueller investigation

[PACOX]

Oh wow...

This is way more sketchy than originally thought. He was advised to recuse himself, but decided not to from his own advisers because it wouldn't be illegal.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/20/polit...ion/index.html


What a dickhead.

Which Trump still might get his Saturday Massacre riding on the curtail of what? 2.5 really bad weeks, his stooges in the House leaving, and a government shutdown. He might just say, "fuck it" and have Mueller fired to spite the Dems.

Chances of actually happening? 20% but it's still on the table.

[cubby]

Which Trump still might get his Saturday Massacre riding on the curtail of what? 2.5 really bad weeks, his stooges in the House leaving, and a government shutdown. He might just say, "fuck it" and have Mueller fired to spite the Dems.

Chances of actually happening? 20% but it's still on the table.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

I wonder what Whittaker thinks he going to get out of this whole thing? His replacement has already been named, so AG is out.

[Breccia]

I wonder what Whittaker thinks he going to get out of this whole thing?

Yeah, and his short time won't be enough to, say, pick up a pet project like Sessions being against pot and run with it. Relief pitchers don't throw no-hitters. So I'm going to guess...a job in Pence's administration.

[draynay]

Yeah, and his short time won't be enough to, say, pick up a pet project like Sessions being against pot and run with it. Relief pitchers don't throw no-hitters. So I'm going to guess...a job in Pence's administration.

Well there are two kinds of relievers, the talented guy you trust to preserve a tight game, and the warm body you bring in for a blowout to just get some outs and not let things get any more out of hand, and I'm gonna go with pitcher #2. If he fucks up, whatever, yank him and get somebody less incompetent, if he gets through without absorbing too much punishment, great, you saved somebody more useful from having to be wasted there.

[kaelleria]

Well this is awkward...

Trump lashed out at Whitaker after explosive Cohen revelations

President Donald Trump has at least twice in the past few weeks vented to his acting attorney general, angered by federal prosecutors who referenced the President's actions in crimes his former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Trump was frustrated, the sources said, that prosecutors Matt Whitaker oversees filed charges that made Trump look bad. None of the sources suggested that the President directed Whitaker to stop the investigation, but rather lashed out at what he felt was an unfair situation.
The first known instance took place when Trump made his displeasure clear to acting attorney general Matt Whitaker after Cohen pleaded guilty November 29 to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow. Whitaker had only been on the job a few weeks following Trump's firing of Jeff Sessions.

Over a week later, Trump again voiced his anger at Whitaker after prosecutors in Manhattan officially implicated the President in a hush-money scheme to buy the silence of women around the 2016 campaign -- something Trump fiercely maintains isn't an illegal campaign contribution. Pointing to articles he said supported his position, Trump pressed Whitaker on why more wasn't being done to control prosecutors in New York who brought the charges in the first place, suggesting they were going rogue.

The previously unreported discussions between Trump and Whitaker described by multiple sources familiar with the matter underscore the extent to which the President firmly believes the attorney general of the United States should serve as his personal protector. The episodes also offer a glimpse into the unsettling dynamic of a sitting president talking to his attorney general about investigations he's potentially implicated in.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/21/polit...ons/index.html

He's never going to get what he think's Eric Holder was for Obama. No AG is actually going to fit what he wants.
I doubt Whitiker is going to be in the job for much longer...

[Paranoid Android]

New - Trump has been venting his frustrations about SDNY at Whitaker since explosive Cohen revelations - CNNPolitics https://t.co/bFFhqWtFUc

https://twitter.com/LauraAJarrett/st...574055425?s=19

I had a few posts about Whitaker prior and if true this is egregious.

This new reporting is a bombshell. The President of the United States shouldn’t be conversing with DOJ about *any* criminal investigation, let alone one involving his own interests.

“Trump pressed Whitaker on why more wasn't being done to control prosecutors in New York...” https://t.co/I9uUY3xXpf

https://twitter.com/joshscampbell/st...467525632?s=19

Again if true this is impeachment. He is actively trying to interfere in his own investigation.

Remember lynch on tarmac?

https://twitter.com/JRubinBlogger/st...576193026?s=19

Hey trumpkins if you were upset with Loretta Lynch then you must be outraged at this.

[Masark]

Again if true this is impeachment. He is actively trying to interfere in his own investigation.

#AddItToThePile

I think the list of causes for impeachment are up to a few hundred by now.

[Bullettime]

The mystery firm embroiled in a subpoena battle is trying to take their case to the Supreme Court.

[Breccia]

The mystery firm embroiled in a subpoena battle is trying to take their case to the Supreme Court.

The suspicion was Middle East? Qatar?

[Bullettime]

The suspicion was Middle East? Qatar?

Yeah I'm still sticking to Qatari Investments Authority.

[Orbitus]

Yeah I'm still sticking to Qatari Investments Authority.

Which is the people that bought Kushner's building? Right?

[Ripster42]

Which is the people that bought Kushner's building? Right?

Gave him a 1b loan i believe. I believe the speculation that it's qatari comes from who was seen returning to the special councils office after the appeals case was heard: lawyers handling the ME part of the probe.

[Bullettime]

Gave him a 1b loan i believe. I believe the speculation that it's qatari comes from who was seen returning to the special councils office after the appeals case was heard: lawyers handling the ME part of the probe.

Yeah it's the overall picture. Mueller already has an established history dealing with Qatar and them putting up roadblocks refusing information, QIA is an official arm of the Qatari government, the 19% of Rosneft mentioned in the Steele dossier was bought through Qatari shell companies using money loaned to QIA from Russia, Qatar and Kushner's real estate "deal," and one of the prosecutors seen arriving at Mueller's office after the hearing is an all star counter terrorism expert on the Middle East.

[Shalcker]

Yeah it's the overall picture. Mueller already has an established history dealing with Qatar and them putting up roadblocks refusing information, QIA is an official arm of the Qatari government, the 19% of Rosneft mentioned in the Steele dossier was bought through Qatari shell companies using money loaned to QIA from Russia, Qatar and Kushner's real estate "deal," and one of the prosecutors seen arriving at Mueller's office after the hearing is an all star counter terrorism expert on the Middle East.

As far as i remember it was Italian bank through which loan to QIA was made, not "Quatari shell companies".

[kaelleria]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/23/polit...ena/index.html

Mystery company gets a reprieve from the contempt ruling they were slapped with after not handing over whatever they're supposed to be handing over...
Mueller and his team have until the 31st to give a response to the Supreme Court at which point they'll review the contempt charge.

[Ripster42]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/23/polit...ena/index.html

Mystery company gets a reprieve from the contempt ruling they were slapped with after not handing over whatever they're supposed to be handing over...
Mueller and his team have until the 31st to give a response to the Supreme Court at which point they'll review the contempt charge.

I feel like it was always expected that this would make it to the the SC (at least be appealed that far, though I bet they take it up as well). I'm curious how they're going to handle confidentiality, this could be precedent setting in multiple ways. I'm also curious to see if kavanaugh and gorsuch recuse themselves.

[Masark]

I'm also curious to see if kavanaugh and gorsuch recuse themselves.

Hahahahahahaha.

[Mormolyce]

Yeah I'm still sticking to Qatari Investments Authority.

Mmmm, could be, I was kind of hoping it's either Deutsche or Alfa Bank.

[Bullettime]

Mmmm, could be, I was kind of hoping it's either Deutsche or Alfa Bank.

Both are private commercial entities. The mystery company is state owned, so something like QIA, Bank of China, Rosneft, things of that magnitude,

[Mormolyce]

Both are private commercial entities. The mystery company is state owned, so something like QIA, Bank of China, Rosneft, things of that magnitude,

How do we know it's state owned?