But "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal": Trump thread LXXXVIII

[lionheart]

So now they are doubling up instead of doubling down?

lion

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/16/trump-2020-challengers-billionaires-tom-steyer-bloomberg-howard-schultz

Interesting. Thanks lion.

Giuliani melts down defending Trump lies about Cohen: ‘Unless you’re god, you’ll never know what the truth is’
www.rawstory.com/2018/12/giuliani-melts-defending-trump-lies-cohen-unless-youre-god-youll-never-know-truth/

Rudy (I think) chooses not to recall what evidence Mr M's team might have.

Because he isn't already tangled up in legal knots.

www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/12/trump-saturday-night-live-lawsuit-wonderful-life/?fbclid=IwAR0Tu7qpar7ih0Tgf_211pZzz_QWWlQcagaArm-iaccU-TIe84VItGTcz6Y

Is it at all possible that Giuliani is somebody's double agent, deliberately doing the worst possible job of appearing to defend Trump? It would explain a lot.

I doubt it. He's just too too bad.

After all, you would want to 'insert' someone who had, at least, the veneer of competence.

How does Trump find these people?

I can understand how the crooked and greedy and corrupt are drawn to him but you would think that he could find someone who is all those things but also competent. Unless he excludes anyone who is more able than him ...

It's very odd.

They seek him here ...

www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/robert-mueller-is-the-most-unknowable-man-in-washington/2018/12/14/9e37e1a0-fe41-11e8-ad40-cdfd0e0dd65a_story.html?utm_term=.7a479ba9faa5

Aw ...

www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/12/15/hillary-clinton-writes-an-year-old-who-ran-class-president-lost-boy-i-know-too-well-its-not-easy/?utm_term=.b75c4c6dfc52

www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/16/ryan-zinke-resignation-jonathan-jarvis

He got some sort of competent people initially, but they haven't lasted long for whatever reason and now nobody with more than a couple of brain cells or any basic decency will touch him.

Indeed. I don't understand him. (Mueller.)

New report on Russian disinformation, prepared for the Senate, shows the operation’s scale and sweep

The report, a draft of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the first to study the millions of posts provided by major technology firms to the Senate Intelligence Committee

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/12/16/new-report-russian-disinformation-prepared-senate-shows-operations-scale-sweep/

Yikes. Thanks, Pain.

Joyce Alene
@JoyceWhiteVance
The open question is, were any Americans complicit in Russia’s effort to swing the 2016 election, particularly people associated with the campaign or Trump himself. It’s one thing if he was the beneficiary, entirely another if he conspired or concealed.

I was ju

Whoops. What I was meaning to type was: I was just about to post about that report, Pain.

Andrej Matisak
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Verified account

@matisaksk
1h1 hour ago
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New report on Russian disinformation, prepared for the Senate, found the operation used every major social media platform to help elect President #Trump -- and worked even harder to support him while in office. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/12/16/new-report-russian-disinformation-prepared-senate-shows-operations-scale-sweep/ … via @washingtonpost #Russia

Excuse me if you’ve seen this corker already, but it’s a good one. We’ve said it many times - Rudy is a wonderful asset for Trump. He says all the right things. Due to him, I now know that I can rob the bank before it opens, as that won’t be counted as a crime. Incredible!

Josh Rogin
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Verified account

@joshrogin
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Rudy G to @GStephanopoulos on Trump Tower Moscow planning: "Collusion is not a crime. It was over with before the election." @ThisWeekABC

Scott Stedman
@ScottMStedman
If the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations continued until November 2016, as Giuliani suggested this morning then that means that someone from the Trump Org took over the talks when Cohen stopped in June.

Mueller has already said that Cohen and Sater stopped negotiating with the Russian govt “as late as June 2016.”

A CNN piece.

Why presidents shouldn't mess with the Fed

www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/12/customs-and-border-protection-paid-14-million-to-recruit-two-agents-government-report-finds/