The Russia Investigations and other Trump-related cases

[River]

The whole thing is too weird for words. Apparently the press wasn't going to touch it unless the accusations themselves actually made it to print and the Office of Special Counsel got wind of the plot last week and referred it to the FBI. I guess it would have been a clever plan if the people involved were as smart as they clearly thought they were. Instead we got the Dunning-Kruger effect in action.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

To be clearer (because I wouldn't have any idea what the twitter post was saying if I hadn't seen other reports), a right-wing funded effort was underway in which women who have worked with Robert Mueller over the years were offered money in order to claim that he sexually harassed them. Unfortunately (at least for the people trying to make this happen, not only did none of the women agree, but at least some of them forwarded some of the information to the special counsel's office, who has now referred it to the FBI for investigation.

Here is one article about it: https://beta.nbcnews.com/politics/justi ... on-n926301

[Impenitent]

* expletive deleted *

Sent from a tiny phone keyboard via Tapatalk - typos inevitable.

[RoseMorninStar]

Frelga, I heard about that story on the news tonight. The weird gets bizarre and for some reason this is our new 'normal'.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It just gets stranger.

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/30/18044110 ... n-surefire

I doubt that this is anything other than a couple of particularly crazy right-wing supporters of Mr. Trump with no real connections with the president. However, if the following is true (and I have to say that Mr. Cunningham, a former prosecutor ironically under Mr. Giuliani, makes a pretty compelling case), it is possible that the president and his team are desperate enough to try something as crazy as the Surefire gambit.


Has Mueller Subpoenaed the President?

[Frelga]

I really hope we all make it to 2030 or so, when all of this will be made into an HBO series that will put GOT to shame.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Mr. Trump was specifically asked today whether he has received a subpoena and said no. While obviously that is not necessarily definitive, I'm inclined to doubt the theory. Although that does bring the obvious question: if not Mr. Trump, who is the mystery witness?

Sent from my LG G6 using Tapatalk

[Lalaith]

My coworker printed off the Politico article about this theory of Trump as the mystery witness and made me read it last night. It'll be interesting to learn (if we ever do) who it actually is.

[River]

Pence?

That's pure speculation, by the way.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I don't think its Pence, though of course I don't know. And I'm not ruling out that it is Mr. Trump, despite the denials. I really can't imagine why else Judge Katsas would recuse himself.

Hopefully all will be revealed eventually.

[RoseMorninStar]

It's my guess that it is Trump. The amount of secrecy, the scrambling, the quick action. Trump has said before, 'deny, deny, deny'. It's not as if he's known for honesty or keeping his word. Saying whatever comes into one's head regardless of accuracy or honesty is not candor.

[Frelga]

Meanwhile, another line in the Jacob Wohl flustercluck.
https://twitter.com/GossiTheDog/status/ ... 0378967040

Jacob Wohl tweeted this photo of the ‘Mueller accuser’ (left), who failed to turn up to his press confidence. You can just stick it into Google Images to get her face, since that exact photo is old, already online and.. his girlfriend. https://t.co/rYyauaWFiw

Ex-girlfriend, I assume, after this stunt.

As a footnote, The Accuser was supposed to have been harassed by Mueller when she worked with him in the 70s.

As comically inept as this is, it's a cynical, vicious attempt to capitalize on the real suffering of too many women.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Since the woman is reportedly in her 30s, it would have been pretty amazing for Mueller to have harassed her in the 70s! Actually, the allegation is that he raped her in a New York City hotel room in August of 2010. Even though on the day in question, Mueller was provably in Washington.

As comically inept as this is, it's a cynical, vicious attempt to capitalize on the real suffering of too many women.

This, times a million.

[Primula Baggins]

In Washington on jury duty, wasn't he? It would be hard to find a more easily verified alibi than that.

[RoseMorninStar]

As desperate, foolish, and comically inept as this is, I watched a program last night done by Rick Steves (for those of you who may not know him he is a well-known travel guide, primarily of Europe, who has a long running TV series on Public Broadcasting in the US). It was called, 'The Story of Fascism in Europe'.

It's worth a watch. It isn't as if fascist dictators from the past were intelligent & competent. They were liars, cheats, & master manipulators.

[Primula Baggins]

It's on here tomorrow. I'm sure we'll watch it. We both love his travel shows, which include thoughtful exploration of the history, art, and culture of the place he's touring.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm going to put this here, because it is likely to have profound affects on the Mueller investigation, though obviously it will have other great impacts as well.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... ar-BBPsjBH

[RoseMorninStar]

Great as in 'huge/far reaching', or great as in 'wonderful' or great as in 'hold on, it's going to be a doozy!'

I suppose it depends upon who replaces Jeff Sessions. (?)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I suspect that Mr. Trump will eventually nominate Mr. Whitaker, who has been appointed as the acting attorney general. A DOJ spokesperson has already said that Mr. Whitaker will take over supervision of the Mueller investigation, which is an ominous sign.

[yovargas]

From 538:

"A majority of voters — 54 percent — think the Russia investigation is politically motivated, and 46 percent disapprove of how Special Counsel Robert Mueller is handling the probe."

I find this really damn disappointing considering that the people doing the investigation were appointed by Republicans and every branch of govt is run by Republicans. It amazes me how effective Trump's propaganda has been.