Mega-Thread: Mueller investigation

[Zaydin]

If you attack Cohen for lies then you're gonna be really upset when you learn Trump has told thousands of lies over the past few years.

Think the Washington Post determined Trump lied on average like 15 times per day in 2018.

[Flarelaine]

I doubt he will be.

Rudy is very useful to the Trump Crime Family. The news has been all bad for quite some time. But when he gets on TV and spews nonsense everywhere it clouds the issue, distracting coverage from just how damaging the latest revelation is.

You mean like this?

[Dsonsion]

They would rather be Communist then democrat and they keep calling them communist???

Can i die yet? I remember i saw an image of a bunch of idiots wearing that shirt.

Russia is not communist nowadays. Vladimir Putin has spoken openly about the dangers of communism. It's more of a banana republic, but deep in the north.

[Poopymonster]

Russia is not communist nowadays. Vladimir Putin has spoken openly about the dangers of communism. It's more of a banana republic, but deep in the north.

...so a turnip republic?

[Dsonsion]

...so a turnip republic?

You should put a copyright on that.

[Breccia]

...so a turnip republic?

You're my fucking hero.

On topic: Time for another Tweet from the John.

So interesting that bad lawyer Michael Cohen, who sadly will not be testifying before Congress, is using the lawyer of Crooked Hillary Clinton to represent him - Gee, how did that happen? Remember July 4th weekend when Crooked went before FBI & wasn’t sworn in, no tape, nothing?

Well, let's count 'em down.

A) First and most obvious, Trump has also hired a Clinton lawyer. So he's a raging hypocrite.

B) He left out the bit where he wasn't testifying because of him.

C) My favorite: Trump hasn't testified under oath, either. He's been fighting it since this started. Remember those written answers to some of the questions that his lawyers wrote for him?

As per usual, Trump's attempt to objectively lie does nothing to change the rules. It just makes him more and more obvious of a liar.

[Dendrek]

One of the most frustrating things about this presidency, but certainly not the worst, is that "He lied again" carries so little impact for the ongoing issues that it would be just as compelling as a story about how many times he's taken a breath in the last 2 years. Worse, in normal circumstances what I just said would sound like an exaggeration, but it's a completely honest observation here.

All that Trump's word carries now is the potential for incriminating evidence... or a global war.

[Skroe]

...so a turnip republic?

This is gold. LOL.

[Bodakane]

You're my fucking hero.

On topic: Time for another Tweet from the John.



Well, let's count 'em down.

A) First and most obvious, Trump has also hired a Clinton lawyer. So he's a raging hypocrite.

B) He left out the bit where he wasn't testifying because of him.

C) My favorite: Trump hasn't testified under oath, either. He's been fighting it since this started. Remember those written answers to some of the questions that his lawyers wrote for him?

As per usual, Trump's attempt to objectively lie does nothing to change the rules. It just makes him more and more obvious of a liar.

Could you please copy and paste just the text from his tweets, so he doesn't get more clicks?

[Breccia]

BuzzFeed doubles down on their story, citing additional info.

This is going to be interesting.

[Shalcker]

BuzzFeed doubles down on their story, citing additional info.

This is going to be interesting.

That article seems to be about Sunday CNN appearance; it is already Thursday (and no additional info had appeared).

[kaelleria]

Cohen just got subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee in mid February.

[Breccia]

Cohen just got subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee in mid February.

Source.

Well, guess his hand's been forced.

[Dendrek]

Just to be sure, he can't plead the 5th, right? I assume all he can do is say "I'm not at liberty to say" regarding topics Muller doesn't want revealed yet?

[Breccia]

Just to be sure, he can't plead the 5th, right?

Yes and no.
@cubby will back me up...eventually... if I'm right, but I believe the situation is, the Fifth allows you to refuse to testify, if testifying will incriminate you. Therefore, if you've been given immunity, you can't take it. Also, you can't invoke the Fifth to protect your father-in-law from prosecution -- valid or invalid prosecution. Cohen can still refuse to testify, but that's contempt.

As for Mueller-based items, that's a tricky matter. The Senate doesn't have authority over Mueller's investigation and vice versa. I'm willing to bet you're right, that there's some legal form he signed with Mueller that says "don't tell anyone because they'll tell Trump" that Cohen can use. That said, testifying before the Senate and saying "Mueller says I can't answer that question" tells us a lot about what Cohen told Mueller.

[Belize]

Source.

Well, guess his hand's been forced.

It's the GOP controlled Senate. I wouldn't be surprised if all of what the GOP focus on are the wild claims about his step-father.

[Edge-]

It's the GOP controlled Senate. I wouldn't be surprised if all of what the GOP focus on are the wild claims about his step-father.

Senate Intel Committee has largely not engaged in partisan fuckery IIRC. The Nunes led House Committee they are not.

[Breccia]

I wouldn't be surprised if all of what the GOP focus on are the wild claims about his step-father.

I'm not convinced that's the best move.

Yes, Trump is trying to threaten Cohen because his father in law, Fima Shusterman, loaned millions to Shtayner, a Russian (pro-Russian Ukrainian, same thing) in Chicago. Shtayner runs hundreds of cabs, including 20 of Cohen's, and Mueller may have asked about his Russian ties. The loan is publicly referred to as money laundering, Shtayner is being investigated by NYState for tax fraud, and Shusterman could be involved.

Problem for Trump, of course, is that this would be yet another tie between he/his business and Russia. See, Shusterman had multiple Trump properties at the time of the loans. And, at the time of the loans, Cohen was still working for Trump. If Shtayner offered some kind of Russian aid in exchange for millions -- which, as cited above, Mueller has at least deemed possible -- forcing Cohen and Shusterman under the lamp might only prove Team Trump was working with Russia.

It should be noted that, at this time, I know of no federal investigation into Shusterman. Which means the Senate can't do shit about this, unless it's a federal issue, which again, would throw yet more "you hired a criminal on purpose" right back on Trump. Trump continues to run under the assumption that calling someone a lying traitor magically removes their work history with him. It does not.

- - - Updated - - -

Donnie Dum-Dum Jr's security clearance was rejected twice over concerns of, you guessed it, foreign influence over him.

The FBI's concerns were handwaved.

The official, Carl Kline, is a former Pentagon employee who was installed as director of the personnel security office in the Executive Office of the President in May 2017. Kushner's was one of at least 30 cases in which Kline overruled career security experts and approved a top secret clearance for incoming Trump officials despite unfavorable information, the two sources said. They said the number of rejections that were overruled was unprecedented — it had happened only once in the three years preceding Kline's arrival.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said the Trump White House attracted many people with untraditional backgrounds who had complicated financial and personal histories, some of which raised red flags.

Kushner's FBI background check identified questions about his family's business, his foreign contacts, his foreign travel and meetings he had during the campaign, the sources said, declining to be more specific.

Not sure which is the worse part -- that the FBI was overruled in blatant nepotism, or that it was foreign influence and Trump just didn't care.

[Edge-]

Not sure which is the worse part -- that the FBI was overruled in blatant nepotism, or that it was foreign influence and Trump just didn't care.

Why can't they both be equally bad? Because I'd say both are equally bad.

[Masark]

Watching this investigation really feels like watching this video.