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

987 replies

lionheart · 03/12/2018 22:47

Smile
But "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal": Trump thread LXXXVIII
OP posts:
Thread gallery
48
OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 18/12/2018 21:36

Thread title applies to Supreme Court justices too

Zoe Tillman
@ZoeTillman
NEW: The 10th Circuit has dismissed ethics complaints filed against now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh — as a SCOTUS justice, he's no longer covered by the judiciary's disciplinary system, the judges concluded (link: www.uscourts.gov/courts/ca10/10-18-90038-et-al.O.pdf )

STORY: All of the ethics complaints against now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh have been dismissed — a panel of judges concluded the judiciary's disciplinary system no longer applies to Kavanaugh now that he's a SCOTUS justice

www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/brett-kavanaugh-ethics-complaints-dismissed-supreme-court

cozietoesie · 18/12/2018 21:37

So be it.

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 18/12/2018 21:39

Polly Sigh
@dcpoll
JAN 2017, Trump lawyer Sheri Dillon: “No new foreign deals will be made whatsoever during Trump’s Presidency.”
NOV 2018: Undercover recordings reveal a Trump-branded development is in the works in the Dominican Republic, sparking ethics concerns.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-organization-plots-quiet-return-dominican-republic-igniting/story

cozietoesie · 18/12/2018 21:59

Roll on January. Smile

lionheart · 18/12/2018 22:07

www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tamerragriffin/crosscheck-nigeria-election-fake-news-buhari-clone-debunk

'How To Stop Fake News In A Country Where The President Has To Repeatedly Deny Rumors That He Is Dead.'

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TheNorthWestPawsage · 18/12/2018 22:25

Mnuchin backs off Trump's midterm campaign promise of a 10% middle-class tax cut: “I’m not going to comment on whether it is a real thing or not a real thing”
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-18/mnuchin-backs-off-trump-s-promise-of-10-middle-class-tax-cut

lionheart · 18/12/2018 22:49

Back to that subpoena, which turns out to be related to a 'company' owned by a 'country.'

www.scribd.com/document/395974126/12-18-18-DC-Circuit-Grand-Jury-Subpoena

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lionheart · 18/12/2018 22:50

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/18/two-new-developments-again-confirm-that-trumps-defenses-are-cracking/?utm_term=.2e2297bf138c

'For the first 70 years of his life, Donald Trump had all the reason in the world to believe that the rules didn’t apply to him and he could get away with pretty much whatever he wanted. That is no longer true, and today he’s getting two very significant indicators that his defenses against accountability are falling away.'

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lionheart · 18/12/2018 23:00

Germany and Deutsche Bank seem to crop up in the speculation but also companies owned by the Saudi govt., Qatar, Russia, China and Cyprus.

OP posts:
lionheart · 18/12/2018 23:04

Rosneft ... since the German bank is already co-operating and is a public company?

OP posts:
lionheart · 18/12/2018 23:06

Basically, no-one knows ...

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PerkingFaintly · 18/12/2018 23:51

My money's on Rosneft too. But as you say, we don't know yet.

TheClaws · 19/12/2018 00:14

North Korea takes aim at Australia.

KCNA Commentary Condemns Australia for Going against Trend of Peace

Pyongyang, December 15 (KCNA) -- Of late, Australia decided to dispatch a sea-patrol plane to the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula under the pretext of keeping a close watch on the DPRK's violation of "sanctions resolution."

The minister of Defense of Australia said that Australia would maintain the pressure upon north Korea until the latter takes measures for CVID, noting that the recent step is aimed at blocking the evasion of sanctions and illegal dealings of north Korea and organizations involved.

This cannot but be called into question as it is a very unreasonable act of going against the trend of peace created on the Korean peninsula and the region.

Thanks to the DPRK's proactive measures, a good atmosphere has pervaded the Korean peninsula this year in line with the aspiration and desire of humankind for peace and stability.

Now the neighboring countries and many other countries actively support the hard-won trend of détente, hoping this trend would be lasting and durable.

It is evidence of positive acts to further develop the trend of the situation that voices calling for detente or lift of sanctions on the DPRK rang out at the recent G-20 summit.

But Australia, contrary to the efforts of the international community, is chilling the peaceful atmosphere created on the Korean peninsula and the region regardless of the time.

It dispatched a P-8A Poseidon patrol plane and two AP-3C patrol planes to Japan in April and September. It was for the purpose of watching the sea-borne trade of the DPRK's vessels.

In October it took the lead in committing acts against the DPRK by dispatching a guided-missile cruiser to the waters off the Korean peninsula while talking about "economic and diplomatic pressure on north Korea".

If it seeks to get its status acknowledged by infringing upon the sovereignty of an independent country in the region of weighty significance in preserving peace and security of the world, it would be little short of pricking its own eyes with its own fingers.

The authorities of Australia should not forget the bitter lesson of history which they were taught in Korea for kowtowing to the U.S. in the 1950s.

Is it reasonable for the Australian regime to think about the status and influence it is keen to secure, as it falls into contempt not only by other countries but also its own people for going against the trend of the times without its own principle?

Australia had better use reason, instead of becoming modern-day Don Quixote for blindly kowtowing to the U.S. line. -0-

AcrossthePond55 · 19/12/2018 00:33

So being a Supreme Court justice is now a 'get out of jail free' card.

It's another example of the fact that the 'societal codes' our Founding Fathers lived in was so different than today. Our FF would have believed that anyone who could rise to the level of the Supreme Court would be a person of impeccable personal integrity and honour.

Because that's the way the world generally worked back then, you didn't get that far by being a dishonest, unscrupulous jerk. Your peers wouldn't do business with you if you were.

MerdedeBrexit · 19/12/2018 05:31

Across - somehow, they will get that man. Look how Trump's edifice of support is crumbling just now and how he and his close entourage are finally being called out for their crimes and misdemeanours. After my initial incomprehension, Justice Sullivan has restored some of my faith in part of the US judicial system. Also, is it not an absolutely massive deal that the Trump Foundation is being closed down, with Barbara Underwood accusing "Mr Trump and his three eldest children of using it for private and political gain"? I mean, in a banana republic that would be situation normal, but surely not in the US?

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 06:09

It’s astonishing that as part of the trump foundation shut down, they are seeking to bar all 4 trumps involved from being a director of the board for any charity in New York. The president of the United States will likely be deemed too morally deficient to head up charities yet he’s meant to be the moral compass for the whole country. I think the wheels of justice that have been turning slowly are now bearing exceedingly fine dust (?).

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 06:18

David Carroll
@profcarroll
NEW: Facebook data sharing scandal widens. ”Internal documents show that the social network gave Microsoft, Amazon, Spotify and others far greater access to people’s data than it has disclosed.”

As Facebook Raised a Privacy Wall, It Carved an Opening for Tech Giants

Internal documents show that the social network gave Microsoft, Amazon, Spotify and others far greater access to people’s data than it has disclosed.

www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/technology/facebook-privacy.html

[the whole thing is worth a read but this is a snippet re: Russian access]

Since then, as the social network has disclosed its data sharing deals with other kinds of businesses — including internet companies such as Yahoo — Facebook has labeled them integration partners, too.

Facebook even recategorized one company, the Russian search giant Yandex, as an integration partner.

Facebook records show Yandex had access in 2017 to Facebook’s unique user IDs even after the social network stopped sharing them with other applications, citing privacy risks. A spokeswoman for Yandex, which was accused last year by Ukraine’s security service of funneling its user data to the Kremlin, said the company was unaware of the access and did not know why Facebook had allowed it to continue. She added that the Ukrainian allegations “have no merit.”

In October, Facebook said Yandex was not an integration partner. But in early December, as The Times was preparing to publish this article, Facebook told congressional lawmakers that it was.

David Carroll
@profcarroll
If you don't think Yandex has a direct line to FSB you haven't been paying attention. (link: nyti.ms/2GqnbC9 )

So what now people? What now?

Wendy Siegelman
@WendySiegelman
If you thought Facebook's actions and reputation couldn't get worse think again, and read this thread

Yandex, accused last year by Ukraine’s security service of funneling user data to the Kremlin, was a FB integration partner with access to FB user IDs long after other partners

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 06:21

Trump signed letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow project despite Giuliani insisting he didn't

edition-m.cnn.com/2018/12/18/politics/trump-signed-letter-of-intent-rudy-giuliani-moscow/index.html

CNN) — A newly obtained document shows President Donald Trump signed a letter of intent to move forward with negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Russia, despite his attorney Rudy Giuliani claiming on Sunday the document was never signed.

CNN's Chris Cuomo obtained a copy of the signed letter of intent that set the stage for negotiations for Trump condominiums, a hotel and commercial property in the heart of Moscow. The letter is dated October 28, 2015, and bears the President's signature.

When asked on Sunday about the letter, Giuliani incorrectly told CNN's Dana Bash that it had not been signed.

"It was a real estate project. There was a letter of intent to go forward, but no one signed it," Giuliani told Bash.

The non-binding document is also signed by Andrey Rozov, owner of I.C. Expert Investment Co., the Russian firm that would have been responsible for developing the property. [...]

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 06:22

Natasha Bertrand
@NatashaBertrand
Flynn has been ordered to stay within 50 miles of DC beginning on Jan 4. “To the extent the defendant wishes to travel outside that area, he is directed to file a motion seeking leave of Court.”

But "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal": Trump thread LXXXVIII
OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 06:25

Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Hackers infiltrated the European Union's diplomatic comms network for years, downloading thousands of cables that reveal concerns about an unpredictable Trump admin & struggles to deal with Russia, China and the risk Iran would revive its nuclear program.

www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/us/politics/european-diplomats-cables-hacked.html

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 06:33

NAACP returns Facebook donation, calls for boycott

www.axios.com/naacp-returns-facebook-donation-calls-for-boycott-c60ef129-457d-4847-80e3-1d7fdb5764dc.html

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 06:46

Kevin Roose
@kevinroose
In retrospect, I don’t think we made enough of the fact that the 4 founders of WhatsApp and Instagram all left Facebook this year, and two of them gave up $1.3 billion rather than wait out their contracts.

www.cnbc.com/2018/06/05/why-whatsapp-co-founders-koum-acton-left-facebook-wsj.html

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 07:58

United States added to list of most dangerous countries for journalists for first time

At least 63 professional journalists were killed doing their jobs in 2018, a 15 percent increase over last year, Reporters Without Borders said.

www.nbcnews.com/news/world/united-states-added-list-most-dangerous-countries-journalists-first-time-n949676

OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon · 19/12/2018 13:57

Jim Sciutto
‏*@jimsciutto*
Breaking: Planning is underway for a “full” and “rapid” withdrawal of US troops from Syria, decision made by President Trump, a US defense official tells @barbarastarrcnn

Molly McKew
‏*@MollyMcKew*

Oh look, POTUS's Christmas present to Putin arrived early this year.

We are abandoning allies and leaving Russia to dominate the entire region.