The thread where we meet to discuss the unfolding Trump administration catastrophe, but end up discussing adoptions from Russia

[illegitimateMortificadospawn]

If we can get our hands free to type from the constant facepalming, we should be able to post on this topic.

Continuation of the previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2968382-The-one-where-Trump-just-cant-stop-being-Trump

Love the irony.

www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/13/536982193/justice-department-defies-court-deadline-to-release-sessions-contacts-with-russi

Justice Department Defies Court Deadline To Release Sessions' Contacts With Russians

In defiance of a court order, the Justice Department is refusing to release part of a security form dealing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions' contacts with the Russian government.

On June 12, a judge had ordered the agency to provide the information within 30 days, a deadline which passed on Wednesday.

A recently-launched ethics watchdog group called American Oversight filed a Freedom of Information Act request in March for sections of the Standard Form 86 relating to Sessions' contacts "with any official of the Russian government."

The group then filed a lawsuit in April after it said the government didn't provide the documents.

"Jeff Sessions is our nation's top law enforcement officer, and it is shocking one of his first acts after being named Attorney General was to mislead his own agency about a matter of national security," the group's executive director, Austin Evers, said in a statement.

He continued: "The court gave DOJ thirty days to produce Attorney General Sessions's security clearance form, DOJ has already confirmed its contents to the press and Sessions has testified about it to Congress, so there is no good reason to withhold this document from the public."

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Justice Department had told NPR that the documents would be released by the deadline, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

The Standard Form 86, more commonly called SF86, is a very detailed form required to be filled out for obtaining security clearance for certain government positions. It's the same form presidential adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner has recently had to revise after omitting meetings with Russian officials.

Sessions has admitted to speaking with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, at least twice in 2016, which he did not disclose at his confirmation hearing. But in June Sessions testified to senators that the "suggestion that I participated in any collusion" with the Russian government "is an appalling and detestable lie."

American Oversight says it's nonpartisan, but its staff have connections to Democrats, according to USA Today.

A status conference in the case is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

More on Trump's latest interview with Reuters:

www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/13/1680268/-Trump-s-interview-with-Reuters-goes-down-a-rabbit-hole-and-vanishes-in-a-puff-of-contradictions

That Sessions case is interesting, Pain although I don't understand how the AG can duck this without consequences.

And yet his supporters buy it. It's gobsmacking.

Matthew Yglesias‏Verified account @mattyglesias

Matthew Yglesias Retweeted Louis Rosenthal
POTUS can pardon anyone for any federal crime or even issue non-specific pardons in advance of charges and there are no checks or limits.

In the same way that they've been getting away with everything else I fear, lionheart.

Jared Yates Sexton‏Verified account
@JYSexton
The defense of Trump on the right has been exceptionally weak, but supporters are swallowing it whole and incorporating it 1/
Hannity's "Hillary met with Ukraine" nonsense is already ubiquitous. All it took was him mentioning it without context. 2/
I've written about cognitive dissonance's role in this Trump phenomena, but this is how it works. All they need is a palatable choice 3/
Trump supporters have put so much personal identity into this man that they're isolated and that identity is constantly fragile. 4/

Gah, missed out half of it!

Jared Yates Sexton‏Verified account
@JYSexton
The defense of Trump on the right has been exceptionally weak, but supporters are swallowing it whole and incorporating it 1/
Hannity's "Hillary met with Ukraine" nonsense is already ubiquitous. All it took was him mentioning it without context. 2/
I've written about cognitive dissonance's role in this Trump phenomena, but this is how it works. All they need is a palatable choice 3/
Trump supporters have put so much personal identity into this man that they're isolated and that identity is constantly fragile. 4/
With every new revelation and scandal those people have an unconscious choice: realize they've been wrong or swallow the lie further 5/
It's way, way more easier to continue with the lie. Trump and company instinctively know this. It's been their strategy all along. 6/
The moment something erupts, they give an alternative to fit their narrative. It's a lie, but a lie with a purpose. It gives an option 7/
The worst part of this is that every acceptance makes the future acceptance easier. And they're far down the road already. 8/8

It is so hard to witness what is being done to the country, its democracy and the justice system--even as an outsider.

That's before you even begin to think about the global repercussions.

Pain That's why I think it will only change when people realise the impact of any Trump policy in the most direct way (healthcare; jobs that are promised and do not emerge).

Don't know what status the various investigations will haveperhaps when there is a visual image instead of words and speculationsTrump Jr in handcuffs?

Does anyone think Trump might hop the channel for a sneak visit?

I had an argument with a friend yesterday who said that it was strange that so many people were invested in America's goings on when so many other countries, if not all, had their elections interfered with in some manner and what did it matter how they chose to govern themselves.

He refused to accept that America's role as a champion of democracy etc was anything other than self-promotion and kept saying, "well who's decided they're the world's policeman? Who's decided they're the leader of the free world?". It's hard to reach a consensus when the starting points are so wildly divergent.

I think there are just a lot of people who are not interested and don't want to know because it is difficult and complicated and scary. They justify this decision to themselves and others by minimising the importance of the issue. I actually have no problems with people who just say they have too much other shit going on on their lives right now to deal with this crazy, but I do get annoyed by people who tell me I am somehow wrong to care about it.

Yes, lion.

Yes I completely agree bigly. It's fine to not have the headspace/time but it's the ones who object to anyone taking an interest that are the most frustrating.

Almost as frustrating as fox news' desperate attempts to softsoap what's going on and pathetically weak segues Nope, nothing to see here:

Robert Maguire
Robert Maguire @RobertMaguire_
Fox put an ellipses where the actual email actually said the assistance was "part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump"

Oh god, I've just looked at Junior Trump's page and he is awful.

Some things he has retweeted in the past few days:

Donald Trump Jr. Retweeted
FOX Business‏Verified account @FoxBusiness 20h20 hours ago
More
.@AlanDersh: This is conduct that would be covered by the 1st Amendment. I can't believe the NYT had an op-ed in which treason was mentioned

Donald Trump Jr.‏Verified account @DonaldJTrumpJr Jul 12
More
Donald Trump Jr. Retweeted Nigel Farage
Thank you very much @Nigel_Farage

Pam Besteder‏ @pambesteder Jul 11
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Media: Don Jr. must be hiding something by not releasing the emails
Don: Here's the emails
Media: No fair, WE wanted to scoop them first

Donald Trump Jr. Retweeted
Bill O'Reilly‏Verified account @billoreilly Jul 11
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Trump, Jr. smart to release emails. Tabloid guy set him up w Russian lawyer who promised Hillary dirt. She didn't deliver. That's the story.

Gov. Mike Huckabee‏Verified account @GovMikeHuckabee Jul 11
More
Liberal media in a frenzy because Donald Trump Jr released all his emails. Should've just deleted them. We know that's fine with them!

Charlie Kirk‏Verified account @charliekirk11 Jul 11
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The media is attacking @DonaldJTrumpJr because he is one of the most effective voices defending the President. They see him as a threat!

Here are some things he has liked in the recent days:

Collin Rugg‏ @CollinRugg 39m39 minutes ago
More
It seems so convenient that the Obama DOJ granted special immigration to the Russian lawyer right before she met with Donald Trump Jr. 🤔

Median Politics‏ @MedianPolitics 57m57 minutes ago
More
BREAKING! "Russian Spy" Natalia Veselnitskaya has attended anti-Trump ra... via @YouTube

ABC News‏Verified account @ABC 3h3 hours ago
More
Russian lawyer says Trump Jr. 'disappointed' she didn't have Clinton dirt. "I think he was misled about my role." abcn.ws/2t5iWow

Mike Cernovich 🇺🇸‏Verified account @Cernovich 12h12 hours ago
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Don Jr showed more courage and leadership than the GOP combined

And the absolute kicker...

Google "CNN,175,Sue"‏ @NolteNC 18h18 hours ago
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When you're told the Russian govt has the goods on Hillary and you're all, "Hell ya, bring me that shit!"

#MyHero

How. Does. He. Not. Understand.

Or is he sure that whatever he does, he'll be protected by Daddy Trump?

Ooh this can't be good for Sessions:

Natasha Bertrand‏Verified account
@NatashaBertrand

Aaand the DOJ has released a single page of Sessions' SF86. Box checked "no" on q about having contact w/foreign government in last 7 years.

Well, that's a tad naughty of him isn't it. Or does he also suffer from that terrible memory problem so many of the Trump administration seem to have? The one that causes severe loss of any recollection associated with Russia...

As a Brit in the US who just became a US citizen. I am not following this closely as the federal government doesn't play a huge part in our lives.

I prefer Trump to Clinton (wanted Johnson to win the election)

A large number of people I talk to over here don't care about what's going on as they don't trust the government whoever in charge. The ones who do care are the liberals who hate Trump.

As a now US citizen the federal government absolutely plays a huge roll in your life.
Cornell University's Legal Information Institute states that the federal government has jurisdiction over issues that affect the entire country. The most basic is the issue of national defense. The federal government has the power to raise and train a military. Congress has the authority to declare war, and the President is the commander in chief of the armed forces.
Another vital function of the federal government is authority over the printing of money and also determination of its value.
The scope of the federal government has expanded immensely. It now has many regulatory roles and social welfare programs. Federal agencies regulate food hygiene, the environmental consequences of business operations, the business practices of banks and the educational performances of the nation's schools. The federal government also provides financial aid to college students, government housing to the homeless, stipends to the unemployed and food stamps to the poor.
The federal government is also responsible for running the United States Post Office.

So if you eat any food or take any medication or have a bank account or post a letter the federal government has an impact on your life. Leaving aside that if you're poor, or disabled, or female, or LGBT or have children in public school the current federal government may not have your best interests at heart.

GingerPCatt

You are right, and that is certainly applicable to the population who live in the cities.

Rural America is different. We hunt and grow our own food, homeschool our kids etc. State and town politics are much higher on our agenda.

For instance the state vote on bear hunting, repeal of MOT's and concealed firearm permits have more of a day to day impact

twitter.com/tombutler/status/885065844564393984

Awesome. Gollum actor Andy Serkis does Trump tweets.....

I agree local politics are very important- and in many cases can have more impact on day to day life.
But as an American woman with a child with a pre-existing condition and many LGBT friends I'm also very concerned about the decisions our federal government is making as they affect my family and friends.

As a Brit in the US who just became a US citizen

Surely federal immigration legislation has just played a huge part in your life right there?

But I get that if you didn't experience it adversely, you might not notice it very much.

Jonathan Nicholson @JNicholsonInDC
CBO: Trump budget would NOT reach balance in 10 years, would see a $720 billion deficit in 2027. WH had claimed $16B surplus in 2027.