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

[lionheart]

Smocking.

The atmosphere in the WH must be full of festive shit cheer.

Not sure this will help Bernie or Joe, but I suspect a younger California US Senator is not unhappy about it.
twitter.com/johnwdean/status/1074895355274178560?s=21

California, the nation’s most-populous state, has moved its primary to March 3, 2020, so it can have more influence in picking presidential nominees.
twitter.com/wsjpolitics/status/1074871244187688961?s=21

We have some unpacking to do too folks on the internalized sexism and racism in our own party - and despite what the numbers tell us and nature of our base - why we presume white male is safe.

This is the key to the Siskind piece for me. The evidence from the last 10 years shows ethnicity minority and female candidates do better for Dems in attracting votes. So why, in an election that Dems must win, do politicos and pundits push the white male candidates? I think she is trying to counter the inbuilt sexism etc in US political life.

Just because Hillary lost had the election stolen from her shouldn't stop the Dems pitching another woman candidate. Just because America seems to be so racially divided shouldn't mean they avoid another ethnic minority candidate.

I think she's warning the Dems not to take too much heed of the political commentators - you know the ones who constantly snipe at Pelosi and ignore her similar male equivalents (McConnell, Schumer etc)

Children, look away now.

First 2020 ad? This Trump ad, featuring his campaign manager @parscale, just aired on CNN. It’s a minute long and asks viewers to call an 800 number to leave a thank you message for POTUS. I called the number and it leads to a fundraising appeal (not unusual for pres campaigns)
twitter.com/yashar/status/1074846087502909440?s=21

www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/18/donald-trump-policies-britain-reduce-ties-united-states-climate-iran

The report describes US foreign policy as deliberately chaotic. “The difficulty the UK and its allies have faced in trying to influence the US demonstrates the challenge of working with the administration,” it says.

It concludes: “How damaging this will be to what has hitherto been the UK’s most important international relationship will depend on whether the current approach is an enduring trend. Should President Trump win a second term or a similar administration succeed him, the damage to UK–US relations will be longer lasting.

The committee says a US administration official told it that the president had promised disruption and that he was delivering. "

"So another day of Hillary Clinton’s emails and the Steele dossier. This while the President ... is lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country. How does that make any sense at all?” -Former FBI Director James Comey cnn.it/2R5ggCE

twitter.com/CNN/status/1074899811147628544/video/1

twitter.com/PreetBharara/status/1074867999029518336

At this point frankly I’m most concerned that the special counsel gave Flynn a sweetheart deal. In which he took but a fraction of responsibility for what he did. For both Russia and for Turkey.

Seth writes ....
twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1074870782742937600

I've been saying for a year that Mike Flynn is far and away the most valuable cooperating witness Mueller has.

Media is expressing unrelenting shock at how good Flynn's plea deal was for him.

Two possibilities:

(1) I was right.
(2) Mueller's a terrible prosecutor.

Choose one.

DOJ's press release on the charges: www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-charged-conspiracy-and-acting-agents-foreign-government

I strikes me as seriously weird, even w Flynn's cooperation, to throw so many counts at the business partners of the former National Security Advisor and leave him as an unindicted co-conspirator facing no jail time.

twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1074696341627068417

I hope the importance of Flynn as a witness becomes clear eventually and it will all be worthwhile.

In the meantime it's clear he's going to play victim and that will be amplified by the Trump media/bots.

https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/comey-blasts-gop-silence-as-trump-tries-to-burn-down-fbi-1400544323987

I've reached the stage where unprecedented, constitutional crisis etc are just words. Without action, so what? Sometimes it helps to be reminded.

(1) I was right.
(2) Mueller's a terrible prosecutor.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/24/how-trump-made-war-on-angela-merkel-and-europe

Really worth reading.

European leaders now worry that Trump’s illiberal aims go well beyond his insistent demands on Merkel to pay more for nato and stop shipping so many cars to the U.S. “Many European leaders have told me that they are convinced that President Trump is determined to destroy the E.U.,” a former senior U.S. official told me. Trump has begun publicly calling the E.U. a “foe,” and promoting the resurgence of nationalism, which Macron and Merkel see as a direct threat. Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in a recent speech at the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, attacked the United Nations, the E.U., the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, and derided what he called Europe’s flawed vision of multilateralism as “an end to itself."
Europe has had many fights with American Presidents over the years, but never in the seven decades since the end of the Second World War has it confronted one so openly hostile to its core institutions. "

Shame on everyone for this really.

www.rawstory.com/2018/12/former-national-equirer-editor-claims-tabloid-unpublished-embarrassing-criminal-stories-trump-family/

Well yes, I've always thought destroying the EU and if possible NATO was what Putin's Boy was about.

I doubt he came up with this himself (had he even heard of NATO?), but these are definitely Putin's aims. The EU and NATO both offer opposition to Putin's expansionism – military and political and economic.

Putin putting Trump in the White House doesn't just give Putin control in the US. It makes the US his tool to deploy against other big hitters.

And Putin's puppet will get some support among rich US individuals and corporations who don't like the fact that, as a bloc, the EU can stand up to them economically. They're delighted to divide, believing they'll rule. Since many of these also cash in on conflict, the threat of instability or violence in Europe is actually a plus for them. Dollar signs all the way.

I agree Perking. Brexit is another leg - weaken Europe and set the U.K. against the E.U. The other feature is Bannon who, I think is now based in Europe, who is coaching far right leaders in the U.K. and across Europe. They must be laughing at how easily it's been achieved.

On a separate topic for U.K. readers, James Comey's book is currently just over £1 in the Kindle Store. I really enjoyed it - well written and an interesting insight into someone who is flawed but honest and well meaning.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Higher-Loyalty-Truth-Lies-Leadership-ebook/dp/B07B7QWHMT

Roger Stone, longtime political advisor to Donald Trump, has taken a lie detector test in an attempt to prove he did not conspire with Russia during Trump’s 2016 campaign.

WSVN reports that the polygraph test was paid for by Stone and conducted by John Palmatier, a former police officer with more than 35 years experience giving polygraph tests.

Stone essentially failed the test – the results were “inconclusive” – first time round. He passed a second test when stating he had never communicated with any Russian entity or Wikileaks about distributing stolen emails from the DNC.

Stone allegedly made contacts with the WikiLeaks organization through an intermediary in an effort to help the 2016 Trump campaign. Stone has denied all wrongdoing but has said he expects to be indicted.

Kyle Griffin
‏*@kylegriffin1*
Roger Stone admits to spreading lies on InfoWars. Stone, WSJ reports, made the admission in settling a defamation suit brought against him by an exiled Chinese businessman.

The agreement requires Stone to run ads apologizing for defamatory statements.

www.wsj.com/articles/roger-stone-admits-spreading-lies-on-infowars-11545093097

www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-ready-to-pounce-on-trumpworld-concessions-to-moscow

Trump agrees to shut down his charity amid allegations he used it for personal and political benefit

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-agrees-to-shut-down-his-charity-amid-allegations-he-used-it-for-personal-and-political-benefit/2018/12/18/dd3f5030-021b-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html

Flynn sentencing starting now

He's got support though

Donald J. Trump
‏*@realDonaldTrump*
Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

Mueller's office releases notes of Michael Flynn's FBI interview
Flynn, who will be sentenced Tuesday, lied specifically about discussions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, according to the FBI.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mueller-s-office-releases-notes-michael-flynn-s-fbi-interview-n949141

Trump administration officially bans bump stocks

edition.cnn.com/2018/12/18/politics/bump-stocks-ban/index.html

The Associated Press
‏*@AP*
BREAKING: White House press secretary says Trump is willing to work with Congress to avert a partial government shutdown.