President Trump is finally bringing in a first-string legal team to deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian meddling into the 2016 presidential election and possible “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia.
DiGenova served as the chief federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., during the Reagan years and was an independent counsel at the end of the George H.W. Bush’s term. He has also appeared frequently as a guest on Fox News programs. Toensing is a former assistant U.S. attorney and was a former deputy assistant attorney general during the Reagan administration.
While certainly colorful, Trump’s defense team until now could not boast veterans of the unique combination of criminal law and constitutional politics demanded by independent counsel investigations, especially those into the president. President Trump’s lawyers seemed almost to be part and parcel of the circus-like atmosphere that has pervaded the White House. But just as the president eventually replaced provocateurs such as Steve Bannon with seasoned professional manager like White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, he is now upgrading his legal team. It is as if the Golden State Warriors are subbing in for a college basketball team.
It will be interesting what this new team decides to do. Apparently the old team was being chastised both for being too agreeable with Special Counsel, but demanding that Trump not testify. I could certainly see the new team dial down the cooperation that the previous team had insisted on, but I would not suspect that they will be any more eager to have Trump sit down and talk to anyone under oath.
47 comments:
Ch"truth" :
"I would not suspect that they will be any more eager to have Trump sit down and talk to anyone under oath."
Of course not. Because he's guilty as hell.
"Suspect" is a good word. Better than "expect."
"Suspect" is what he is.
“You know, there are a lot of discussions about the fact that maybe the Republican Party has lost its soul.”
-- Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), quoted by the Washington Post.
Students Lead Huge Rallies Across the Nation
“Standing before vast crowds from Washington to Los Angeles to Parkland, Fla., the speakers — nearly all of them students, some still in elementary school — delivered an anguished and defiant message: They are ‘done hiding’ from gun violence, and will ‘stop at nothing’ to get politicians to finally prevent it,” the New York Times reports.
“The students, as they seized the nation’s attention on Saturday with raised fists and tear-streaked faces, vowed that their grief about school shootings and their frustration with adults’ inaction would power a new generation of political activism.”
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“What we’re doing is because we’re not scared of these adults, because we have nothing to lose, we don’t have an election to lose, we don’t have a job to lose — we just have our lives to lose.”
— High School junior and March
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Support Soars for Stricter Gun Control Laws
A new Associated Press-NORC poll finds that 69% of Americans now favor stricter gun control measures. That’s up from 61% who said the same in October of 2016 and 55% when the AP first asked the question in October of 2013.
Overall, 90% of Democrats, 54% of gun owners and 50% of Republicans now favor stricter gun control laws.
They are going to follow the Secret Society theory that will make anything Mueller may provide will not be credible. You have been falling in line with the strategery.
How Trump Delivered on Obama’s Promises
“President Trump’s budget proposals have taken a hatchet to President Obama’s top priorities. They’ve called for deep cuts in renewable energy, medical research and nonmilitary spending in general,” Politico reports.
“Now the Republicans who control Congress have passed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill, and it not only protects Obama’s priorities, it expands them.
“The omnibus—Capitol Hill jargon for a single spending bill that funds most government functions—does not kill any of the programs or agencies Trump’s budget proposed to kill… It basically extends the fiscal status quo that has prevailed since the start of Obama’s second term—plus a sizable chunk of new deficit spending—even though Republicans now control the legislative and executive branches.”
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Trump Infuriates Base with Fake Veto Threat
A former White House official tells Mike Allen that online conservative ire about the spending bill President Trump signed yesterday — after a puzzling tweeted veto feint — “is the hardest I’ve ever seen the base turn on Trump over anything.”
Said the official: “A big reason why people voted for him was because of his apparent willingness to stand up to the entrenched political class in both parties. Voters wanted a fighter who wouldn’t back down to ‘the swamp’ like a typical politician. They were attracted to his strength and alpha mentality, but unfortunately yesterday’s fake veto threat did little but make him look weak … and his base took notice.”
Trump Weighs Fighting Back on Sex Scandals
President Trump is questioning his advisers’ advice about remaining silent on the alleged affairs he had before taking office, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The affairs are now being widely reported on the news networks that the president watches frequently. He’s discussed the idea of fighting back against the allegations on Twitter.
Trump Ends Another Week of Chaos
New York Times: “Inside the West Wing, aides described an atmosphere of bewildered resignation as they grappled with the all-too-familiar task of predicting and reacting in real time to Mr. Trump’s shifting moods.
“Aides said there was no grand strategy to the president’s actions, and that he got up each morning this week not knowing what he would do. Much as he did as a New York businessman at Trump Tower, Mr. Trump watched television, reacted to what he saw on television and then reacted to the reaction.
“Aides said he was still testing his limits as president while also feeling embattled by incoming fire — from Congress, the Russia investigation, foreign entanglements, a potential trade war and a pornographic film actress and a Playboy model who said they had affairs with Mr. Trump and were paid to keep quiet.”
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Trump Moves to Ban Transgender Troops
President Trump “issued orders to ban transgender troops from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a controversial pledge last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and fought out in the courts,” Politico reports.
Why Is Trump Still Trying to Silence Stormy Daniels?
Vanity Fair: “The big question of the alleged Stormy Daniels affair is why this norm-shattering president has declined to simply confess the alleged picayune extramarital affair and instead allowed Daniels to dine out on the story for weeks on end, culminating in a ratings-busting appearance on 60 Minutes?”
Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti’s central theory is simple: Melania Trump.
Said Aventatti: “My speculation has a lot to do with what he’s told his wife before, and likely denials he has provided to her concerning the relationship. And then secondly, I believe it’s part of his larger modus operandi, whereby he attempts to rule with an iron fist. And he tends to rule with an iron fist, even before he became president. And his Stalin–esque way of dealing with opponents.”
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Melania Rides Solo to Air Force One Again
“The day after an interview with a former Playboy model who claims to have had a 10-month affair with her husband, first lady Melania Trump opted to leave President Trump alone for the ride from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base,” CNN reports.
A former White House official tells Mike Allen that online conservative ire about the spending bill President Trump signed yesterday — after a puzzling tweeted veto feint — “is the hardest I’ve ever seen the base turn on Trump over anything.”
I can't fathom why they'd be upset Roger. I never for a second expected Trump to veto it - pure bluster, Trump has never yet shown the backbone to follow through with a threat. Except when it's easy, like cutting off his nephew's health insurance, or squashing little people in court.
Maybe his base is still that gullible about Trump? Who knows.
After listing the names of the 17 people killed when a gunman rampaged through her school on Valentine's Day, Gonzalez asked the crowd to fathom how so many could be murdered in only 6 minutes and 20 seconds.
And then she stopped speaking.
Silent minutes ticked by. Then an alarm beeped.
Emma Gonzalez leads emotional moment of silence during rally
03:00
"Since the time that I came out here, it has been 6 minutes and 20 seconds," she said finally. "The shooter has ceased shooting, and will soon abandon his rifle, blend in with the students as they escape and walk free for an hour before arrest."
She added: "Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job."
wp, if CH is representatives of the gullible people, his ability to waffle back and forth on the tax bill his base will stand beside him.
What's even more important today, is he is assembling a war cabinet. With Bolton's office right next to the oval office, in the west wing, Bolton will be the first and last man to speak to the President. He has shown the tendency to agree with the last person who he speaks to. You know where that could lead us.
CHT, Playing with the Leftist here. I bet The 4 Liberal Stooges did not know.
Of course not. Because he's guilty as hell.
You do understand the concept of a subpoena?
I read the post this morning. Trump is trying to hire a new team, but the top quality lawyers will work for him.
Are you really coming home to see that he's as guilty as hell?.
Will not work for the President
Seems to me that trump has been following through on his threats quite often. Thus the extensive dismantling of most of obama's legacy.
The steel tarriff would be another example
The steel and aluminum tariffs are going to cost consumers in the United States. China is threatening to cease buying US government bonds. Interest rates are going up. Inflation is on the horizon. The compulsive dismantling of the Obama economy policies will lead to a massive deficit, far above and beyond, the numbers that were so heavily criticized by the Republican party. The stock market is dropping at a high rate of speed. We could see a recession worse than the Bush recession.
"We could see a recession worse than the Bush recession."
Or not.
Oh please. China has been dumping steel on the US for years and everyone knows it. We've already lost tens of thousands of jobs because of it. You can't just sit back and continue doing nothing.
Emma Gonzalez leads emotional moment of silence during rally
well isn't that special?
Gonzalez asked the crowd to fathom how so many could be murdered in only 6 minutes and 20 seconds.
with the broward cowards standing right outside.
bald lesbo chick left that part out.
bald lesbo chick left that part out.
Loretta was there???? ]
Funny how you sycophants are so scared over a group of kids exercising their right to free speech...Just think those millions will soon be voting....bet those pulling the R tab will be in a real minority, just like old white men will soon be.....Beware what you with for....
"with the broward cowards standing right outside."
With guns?
"bald lesbo chick left that part out."
She's bisexual...can't decide what she is.
2% of our steel imports from China, and in 2016 Obama had already imposed duties no Chinese steel, of 500% on some types. Steel imports from China dropped by two thirds. The US imports steel from Canada, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, and Russia, in order of volume.
For a tariff to be effective against Chinese steel, it almost has to include imports from all sources because a lot of steel still comes indirectly from China. The EU learned this from their own steel tariffs, which were largely ineffective.
The market is reacting to the prospect of trade wars IMO, but I think those fears are short-sighted and overblown. I could be wrong - who knows how Trump will react - but the markets will recover. It doesn't seem likely that China will engage in a trade war over steel, since it does cost Chinese resources and cheap steel has been a boon to US manufacturing that uses steel (employing nearly 50 times the people that US steel mills employ)
interesting...
liberals from new england are colluding with russia to stay warm this winter:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/why-natural-gas-from-putins-russia-has-to-be-imported-to-new-england
can't decide what she is.
i can. she's a piece of shit. exploiting the deaths of 17 classmates to acquire fame and fortune?
yeah, she's a piece of shit.
Paul Ryan is not going to be the speaker of the house of representatives in 2019 2020.
Republican Rep. Ryan Costello plans to drop his bid for reelection in the 2018 House election for Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District and will retire at the end of his term, a Republican familiar with Costello's plans told CNN Saturday.
wp, the tariffs are not going to reopen the factories. So the underlying effect will be an increase in price of steel, triggering at least modest inflation.
The market is reacting to the prospect of trade wars IMO, but I think those fears are short-sighted and overblown.
Which means it's a good time to buy BTW, those of you who like to gamble with the stock market AND who have confidence in Trump. He's a little too unpredictable to bet on IMO, since he could escalate the situation and have it spinning out of control. But if you think he knows what he's doing, it's a great opportunity to buy up some cheap stock.
Blogger Roger Amick said...
Paul Ryan is not going to be the speaker of the house of representatives in 2019 2020.
ok folks, you know what to do. like every other alky political prediction, this one too will probably end up being erroneous. perhaps by a landslide even.
the market is reacting to the prospect of trade wars?
really.
we've been in a trade war for as long as i can remember. and we've been losing quite badly. only now are we starting to fight back and the left is outraged.
Unlike rrb, who realise upon the right wing media for his opinion on the truly historic event yesterday in Washington D.C. It drew a larger crowd size than attended the imagination of Donald J Trump. It was very emotional. There were no celebrities spoke. They were the children who were affected by the string of school shootings. The usual suspects were told to think that a LBGT student was exploiting the murders of children across the country .
"wp, the tariffs are not going to reopen the factories. " I think it might, given that the price of steel rises. Not "factories" aka manufacturing facilities since some of them might actually close, but steel mills. US Steel is already planning to reopen one in Illinois.
But only if there is a strong commitment to this course of action, because it's not cheap to open a mill and possibly train workers. There are also steel mills that are going to be looking at layoffs or closing if they rely on imports of cheap steel slabs.
Trump's steel tariffs are probably misbegotten, but aside from inevitable retaliations a full-blown trade war is not in anyone's interest. The rising resource cost will ripple through the US economy causing some damage, but as it stands now I don't think it's calamitous yet.
Bothe left and the right are outraged.
Agreed
we've been in a trade war for as long as i can remember.
So what do you think is the cause of the market's (severe) drop in the last few days? If what you say is true, it would already be factored in to market prices. If investors agreed that "we've been losing quite badly" and now we're starting to win, wouldn't that cause investors to buy, not sell?
And then there’s the fawning adoration for Parkland student activist Emma Gonzalez, who’s all about being famous. Here she’s also the subject of a creepy graphic.
http://victorygirlsblog.com/theres-so-much-derp-at-the-march-for-our-lives-video/
and the kiddie who blew chow while speaking on stage was an instant classic.
The usual suspects were told to think that a LBGT student was exploiting the murders of children across the country .
psychologically projecting again alky? there was nothing historic about yesterday. hysterical? yes. historic? not even close. when the organized left is finished with these kiddies they'll be cast aside and will fade into obscurity. a couple of the lucky ones like hogg and the skinhead chick might cash in with MSDNC, but the puking princess and all the rest will be gone AND forgotten.
using the deaths of 17 children to grab the brass ring is really the lowest piece of shit thing a person can do.
no wonder you applaud that behavior.
If investors agreed that "we've been losing quite badly" and now we're starting to win, wouldn't that cause investors to buy, not sell?
there's sometimes money to be made on both sides of the trade, wp. the status quo trade imbalance was working for the investor class exactly because it had been so out of balance for so long. it was baked in. now then, i would be a buyer on the drop in some sectors. but that's just me.
honestly i'm not sure trump can fix the trade imbalance for precisely the reason that it's been this way forever. we abdicated our position as a manufacturing leader because we like cheap shit. and you only get cheap shit by paying hop sing 8 cents an hour to churn out your wal-mart inventory.
a couple of the lucky ones like hogg and the skinhead chick might cash in with MSDNC
He'd better, since apparently he cannot get into a college.
He'd better, since apparently he cannot get into a college.
for now. he'll probably end up at skidmore or williams. they have a reputation for churning out professional protesters, grievance mongers and crisis actors.
I think the market drop Thurs/Fri had more to do with the omni bill and huge deficits rather than anything else. It was up Fri morning after Trump hinted he would veto it then dropped after he signed it.
But a very interesting article on American Thinker this morning. The author there points out an interesting maneuver that Trump can now do to reallocate the funds in that huge bill including building the wall. Specifically:
6. By making these two declarations President Trump has just communicated that he has the authority to NOT spend any funds he doesn't deem necessary and will return them to the US Treasury. So, funds for Planned Parenthood? He can simply not allocate the funds.
7. Also, these declarations make some funds fungible. For instance if he determines that building a Wall on the Southern Border is a defense against Human Trafficking? He can move funds from anywhere else in the Defense Dept Allocation & simply build the Wall.
8. Congress is powerless to stop cash reallocations on an omnibus bill AND cannot stop the DOD from taking measures under a declared Emergency.
9. Despite their language in the Omnibus Bill about the Border Wall, it is trumped by the State of Emergency that Trump declared.
Whole article here
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/03/president_trump_hints_he_may_use_defense_budget_to_build_the_border_wall_now.html
So wouldn't it make more sense to slap tariffs on the "cheap shit by paying hop sing 8 cents an hour to churn out" than on the resources that our own manufacturing sector needs to compete? Or better yet, anything built on stolen intellectual property.
If the trade "was working" for so long, and it's "baked in" to the highest stock market in history, doesn't that mean we were "winning" the trade war and not losing it?
Trump might be able to use defense funds for his Wall, but "defunding" Planned Parenthood isn't as simple as he'd have you think. Most of their funds come from Medicaid reimbursements for preventive care, so he'd actually need to eliminate Medicaid reimbursements. That ship had already sailed when Trump's health care reform failed.
wp, slap a tariff on any ox you want to gore. from textiles to steel, to electronics to whatever, we've been out of the game so long i don't think we ever recover. trump could very well be on one big fool's errand.
If the trade "was working" for so long, and it's "baked in" to the highest stock market in history, doesn't that mean we were "winning" the trade war and not losing it?
define winning.
a guy who's shorting US manufacturing in the global economy has been winning for quite a while now when you think about it.
so has the american consumer via cheap goods. it's like the minimum wage debate. you want to pay the burger flipper $15/hour, your big mac just got expensive. or we install kiosks and robotics and you keep your relatively cheap big mac and burger flipper is on the unemployment line.
i don't think we can afford the economic disruption to rebalance our shitty trade position. it's been this way for too long.
Eh. I believe this "first-rate invoice legal team" has already departed.
Not clear whether this new defense team decided to quit or whether Trump got rid of them.
Jeez. Autocorrect sucks. "first-string legal team".
You never said what you thought caused the decline if not fears of a trade war, but today the Dow rebounded almost 3%. As I figured, when the Treasury Secretary said that a full-on trade war is unlikely, investors decided that the fear was overblown.
Which I think indicates that panic over a potential trade war with China was in fact the reason for the recent plunge.
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