President Trump
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Carter Page has not been accused of any wrongdoing, despite being wiretapped through possibly illegal means. What does that tell you? Either the FBI royally screwed this one up (accusing an American citizen of being a Russian spy) or they wanted that wiretap not to monitor Page, but as a backdoor to monitor somebody else (illegally).
Remember Carter Page was an undercover agent working for the FBI in 2013. They knew him and his coincidental association with the Trump campaign might have been just the opening needed to conduct surveillance against Trump's associates. One little problem was the original FISA application was denied by the judge in July/August, something that almost never happens.
So they brought in the "salacious and unverified" dossier written by a formerly credible intelligence analyst (Christopher Steele) but forgot to mention he was being paid by the Democrat Party. As additional evidence, they presented a Yahoo News article to corroborate the dossier, but failed to mention that Steele himself was the source for the article, something that would have disqualified him as a credible intelligence analyst. Basically, Christopher Steele was out to make a buck, but the FBI needed to treat him like a legitimate intelligence source to get a judge to sign off.
What the heck are you talking about? The warrant was renewed 3 times after afterwards based upon evidence obtained during the wiretap.
Only you and Nunes believe the memo is actually legit.
Oh and Trump's "I will miss Porter and he is a good worker" and why wont any think of the effect on those being accused of domestic violence speech.
Very easy to write slanted articles making it sound like Trump is "not mourning with the country" and "silent about gun control". How about instead of trying to pit people against the President, ABC writes a fully comprehensive article that says what Trump is actually doing?
After all its all a part of God's plan, to paraphrase some evangelical preachers that say it -- when they praise Trump for promoting "Christian values"
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/opinion/porter-trump-domestic-violence.html?mabReward=CTS2&recid=10ZWCc8a7LNzM85FeGLm4yUzXZU&recp=6&action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine
The Trump Stain Spreads
John Kelly, White House chief of staff, center; with Jared Kushner, senior adviser, left; and Rob Porter, then staff secretary, in the Oval Office in September. Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse ? Getty Images
Winston Churchill is supposed to have said: ?With integrity, nothing else counts. Without integrity, nothing else counts.?
In fact, that seems to be one of those Churchillian epigrams that Churchill never actually got around to saying. But it captures an important truth about politics, that dishonor is like a cancer that spreads inexorably as it feeds upon ambition, protects itself with lies and doubles down with cover-ups.
Looking at the chaos in the White House these days, I worry about inexperience, incompetence and lack of judgment. But maybe I worry most about an utter lack of integrity ? and the way it is proving infectious.
The contagion of dishonor has spread irresistibly through the White House staff, turning aides into con artists. Indifference to ethics has spread through the cabinet and agencies, resulting in endless scandals. And the epidemic has rippled through much of the G.O.P. (with some heroic exceptions), turning lawmakers into enablers and hypocrites.
The Rob Porter affair, for example, isn?t just about Porter any more but about what seems to be a cover-up and a dismissiveness toward domestic violence. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, claimed that he had removed Porter within 40 minutes of learning of credible allegations of Porter?s domestic abuse; to listen to F.B.I. testimony, it now seems it may have been seven months.
President Trump said on Wednesday that he is against domestic violence. But when you have to say that, something is wrong.
We have a president who has himself been accused of domestic violence (an allegation of rape by his first wife that she later retracted), who has lost two aides to accusations of domestic violence, whose chief of staff (a retired four-star Marine general) in 2016 praised a colonel as a ?superb Marine officer? after he had been accused of sexually harassing two women. More broadly, while I understand the sorrow people feel for a colleague who is self-immolating, the White House?s initial comments came across as discounting one of the most common kinds of violence in America today.
Some 28,000 Americans are sent to emergency rooms each year because of domestic violence. Almost 20 people are victimized each minute. This isn?t a fringe issue: It claims far more American lives than terrorism. The White House would never be caught with a bank robbery suspect on its staff, so why tolerate someone alleged to be a wife beater?
The answer has to do, I think, with a lack of integrity, an absence of a moral compass, a narcissism in which the all-consuming need becomes to protect oneself and one?s boss.
Lack of integrity may also be the best way to capture the morphing scandal of the pre-election $130,000 payoff to a porn star to apparently keep quiet about an affair with Trump. It?s bad enough that Trump appears to have been cheating on Melania right after she had their baby (?Oh, don?t worry about her,? he is said to have told the actress). But with the payoff and reported cover-up, Trump is betraying all of us.
When The Wall Street Journal first reported the porn-star payout by Michael Cohen, Trump?s longtime lawyer, Cohen denounced the report as a ?false narrative? of ?outlandish allegations.?
Oops. Take two. This week, Cohen confirmed the payment in a statement saying that he ?facilitated? the transfer with his own cash. It doesn?t seem quite true, as some news organizations reported, that Cohen precisely denied that he had been reimbursed. Cohen?s statement was artful. He denied that he had been reimbursed by either the Trump Organization or the Trump presidential campaign, but not that he had been reimbursed by someone else ? say, by Trump himself. (The White House did not respond to my inquiry about whether Trump had personally paid the $130,000.)
Sometimes politicians, liberals and conservatives alike, are unprincipled in pursuit of principles they are passionate about. But Trump aides don?t seem to believe in any cause larger than themselves or their leader.
That?s alarming because of the risks that even worse might lie ahead. When self-absorbed people are caught in a growing scandal, they overreach. In this case, that might mean the firing of Robert Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, or some military clash that changes the subject. To be clear, I don?t think officials would deliberately turn to war as a solution to political problems, but we all have a remarkable ability to persuade ourselves that what is good for us is also good for the country.
Every administration suffers embarrassments. But when there is a basic lack of integrity at the top, these do not easily self-correct; rather, they build upon themselves because of an impulse to cover up and layer new deceptions on top of old deceit. That seems to be what is happening in both the Rob Porter and porn-payoff scandals.
The risk is that this stain continues to spread, metastasizing and bringing down everything around it. And to me, it looks as if the Trump administration is now metastasizing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/opinion/porter-trump-domestic-violence.html?mabReward=CTS2&recid=10ZWCc8a7LNzM85FeGLm4yUzXZU&recp=6&action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine
The Trump Stain Spreads
John Kelly, White House chief of staff, center; with Jared Kushner, senior adviser, left; and Rob Porter, then staff secretary, in the Oval Office in September. Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse ? Getty Images
Winston Churchill is supposed to have said: ?With integrity, nothing else counts. Without integrity, nothing else counts.?
In fact, that seems to be one of those Churchillian epigrams that Churchill never actually got around to saying. But it captures an important truth about politics, that dishonor is like a cancer that spreads inexorably as it feeds upon ambition, protects itself with lies and doubles down with cover-ups.
Looking at the chaos in the White House these days, I worry about inexperience, incompetence and lack of judgment. But maybe I worry most about an utter lack of integrity ? and the way it is proving infectious.
The contagion of dishonor has spread irresistibly through the White House staff, turning aides into con artists. Indifference to ethics has spread through the cabinet and agencies, resulting in endless scandals. And the epidemic has rippled through much of the G.O.P. (with some heroic exceptions), turning lawmakers into enablers and hypocrites.
The Rob Porter affair, for example, isn?t just about Porter any more but about what seems to be a cover-up and a dismissiveness toward domestic violence. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, claimed that he had removed Porter within 40 minutes of learning of credible allegations of Porter?s domestic abuse; to listen to F.B.I. testimony, it now seems it may have been seven months.
President Trump said on Wednesday that he is against domestic violence. But when you have to say that, something is wrong.
We have a president who has himself been accused of domestic violence (an allegation of rape by his first wife that she later retracted), who has lost two aides to accusations of domestic violence, whose chief of staff (a retired four-star Marine general) in 2016 praised a colonel as a ?superb Marine officer? after he had been accused of sexually harassing two women. More broadly, while I understand the sorrow people feel for a colleague who is self-immolating, the White House?s initial comments came across as discounting one of the most common kinds of violence in America today.
Some 28,000 Americans are sent to emergency rooms each year because of domestic violence. Almost 20 people are victimized each minute. This isn?t a fringe issue: It claims far more American lives than terrorism. The White House would never be caught with a bank robbery suspect on its staff, so why tolerate someone alleged to be a wife beater?
The answer has to do, I think, with a lack of integrity, an absence of a moral compass, a narcissism in which the all-consuming need becomes to protect oneself and one?s boss.
Lack of integrity may also be the best way to capture the morphing scandal of the pre-election $130,000 payoff to a porn star to apparently keep quiet about an affair with Trump. It?s bad enough that Trump appears to have been cheating on Melania right after she had their baby (?Oh, don?t worry about her,? he is said to have told the actress). But with the payoff and reported cover-up, Trump is betraying all of us.
When The Wall Street Journal first reported the porn-star payout by Michael Cohen, Trump?s longtime lawyer, Cohen denounced the report as a ?false narrative? of ?outlandish allegations.?
Oops. Take two. This week, Cohen confirmed the payment in a statement saying that he ?facilitated? the transfer with his own cash. It doesn?t seem quite true, as some news organizations reported, that Cohen precisely denied that he had been reimbursed. Cohen?s statement was artful. He denied that he had been reimbursed by either the Trump Organization or the Trump presidential campaign, but not that he had been reimbursed by someone else ? say, by Trump himself. (The White House did not respond to my inquiry about whether Trump had personally paid the $130,000.)
Sometimes politicians, liberals and conservatives alike, are unprincipled in pursuit of principles they are passionate about. But Trump aides don?t seem to believe in any cause larger than themselves or their leader.
That?s alarming because of the risks that even worse might lie ahead. When self-absorbed people are caught in a growing scandal, they overreach. In this case, that might mean the firing of Robert Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, or some military clash that changes the subject. To be clear, I don?t think officials would deliberately turn to war as a solution to political problems, but we all have a remarkable ability to persuade ourselves that what is good for us is also good for the country.
Every administration suffers embarrassments. But when there is a basic lack of integrity at the top, these do not easily self-correct; rather, they build upon themselves because of an impulse to cover up and layer new deceptions on top of old deceit. That seems to be what is happening in both the Rob Porter and porn-payoff scandals.
The risk is that this stain continues to spread, metastasizing and bringing down everything around it. And to me, it looks as if the Trump administration is now metastasizing.
Irvinecommuter
New member
NOTHING TO SEE HERE BUT SMOKE AND FIRE!!!
http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/15/politics/rick-gates-plea-deal-mueller-russia-investigation/index.html
?He was a sick man, a demented man," Trump said of the shooter
(CNN) President Donald Trump avoided the topic of gun control while visiting Las Vegas Wednesday, just days after the deadliest shooting in modern American history.?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/10/04/politics/trump-las-vegas-massacre/index.html
I expect the same from Trump when he visits Florida. Blame the kid, and not think out of the box. (What can we do to stop this? But the NRA supports him so he won?t)
(CNN) President Donald Trump avoided the topic of gun control while visiting Las Vegas Wednesday, just days after the deadliest shooting in modern American history.?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/10/04/politics/trump-las-vegas-massacre/index.html
I expect the same from Trump when he visits Florida. Blame the kid, and not think out of the box. (What can we do to stop this? But the NRA supports him so he won?t)
Liar Loan
Well-known member
eyephone said:
Carter Page has not been accused of any wrongdoing, despite being wiretapped through possibly illegal means. What does that tell you? Either the FBI royally screwed this one up (accusing an American citizen of being a Russian spy) or they wanted that wiretap not to monitor Page, but as a backdoor to monitor somebody else (illegally).
Remember Carter Page was an undercover agent working for the FBI in 2013. They knew him and his coincidental association with the Trump campaign might have been just the opening needed to conduct surveillance against Trump's associates. One little problem was the original FISA application was denied by the judge in July/August, something that almost never happens.
So they brought in the "salacious and unverified" dossier written by a formerly credible intelligence analyst (Christopher Steele) but forgot to mention he was being paid by the Democrat Party. As additional evidence, they presented a Yahoo News article to corroborate the dossier, but failed to mention that Steele himself was the source for the article, something that would have disqualified him as a credible intelligence analyst. Basically, Christopher Steele was out to make a buck, but the FBI needed to treat him like a legitimate intelligence source to get a judge to sign off.
Irvinecommuter
New member
Liar Loan said:
What the heck are you talking about? The warrant was renewed 3 times after afterwards based upon evidence obtained during the wiretap.
Only you and Nunes believe the memo is actually legit.
Porter is a wife beater (just like our president, but this time with fresh proof)
FBI told WH chief of staff Kelly about Porter back in July -- this from FBI under oath so no Hannity phake news drumbeat there
Security clearance personnel deemed Porter a blackmail risk given his background and that he was handling sensitive security materials for the president
Kelly tried to cover it up from July until now when good old liberal, biased, anti-american lame stream media exposed him
Kelly still tried to cover for him
But then photos of beaten up wife surfaced (with black eyes)
Now too much heat on Kelly
Keeping true to White House tradition, Kelly fired Porter only when heat became too much to bear
Now everyone calling for Kelly's head , including your favorite Italian, the scaramucci
Kelly who already outed himself as a racist (calling brown immigrants lazy) now likely gonna go
But Mighty christian warrior Pence standing behind him so ... who knows
FBI told WH chief of staff Kelly about Porter back in July -- this from FBI under oath so no Hannity phake news drumbeat there
Security clearance personnel deemed Porter a blackmail risk given his background and that he was handling sensitive security materials for the president
Kelly tried to cover it up from July until now when good old liberal, biased, anti-american lame stream media exposed him
Kelly still tried to cover for him
But then photos of beaten up wife surfaced (with black eyes)
Now too much heat on Kelly
Keeping true to White House tradition, Kelly fired Porter only when heat became too much to bear
Now everyone calling for Kelly's head , including your favorite Italian, the scaramucci
Kelly who already outed himself as a racist (calling brown immigrants lazy) now likely gonna go
But Mighty christian warrior Pence standing behind him so ... who knows
Loco_local
Active member
LiarLoan can't remember all of the lies that come out of the Whitehouse probably because he doesn't view them as lies.
Irvinecommuter
New member
Loco_local said:
Oh and Trump's "I will miss Porter and he is a good worker" and why wont any think of the effect on those being accused of domestic violence speech.
Loco_local
Active member
I believe Porter only had an interim clearance along with about 100 other Whitehouse staffers including Kushner, but the President is allowed to share whatever classified intelligence he wants with whomever he wants.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-mad-law-enforcement-lawmakers-iran-payment-53178717
Trump fumes about Russia investigation as nation mourns
As the nation mourned, President Donald Trump kept largely silent about the Florida school shooting victims and the escalating gun control debate, instead raging at the FBI for what he perceived to be a fixation on the Russia investigation at the cost of failing to deter the attack.
From the privacy of Mar-a-Lago, Trump vented about the investigation in a marathon series of tweets over the weekend. He said Sunday "they are laughing their asses off in Moscow'" at the lingering fallout from the Kremlin's election interference and that the Obama administration bears some blame for the meddling.
Trump was last seen publicly Friday night when he visited the Florida community reeling from a school shooting that left 17 dead and gave rise to a student-led push for more gun control. White House aides advised the president against golfing so soon after the tragedy, so Trump spent much of the holiday weekend watching cable television news and grousing to club members and advisers.
Trump met Sunday afternoon with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, discussing immigration, taxes, infrastructure and the Florida shooting, the White House said.
Amid a growing call for action on guns, the White House said Sunday the president will host a "listening session" with students and teachers this week, but offered no details on who would attend or what would be discussed.
On Monday, 17 Washington students plan a "lie-in" by the White House to advocate for tougher gun laws. Students who survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland are planning a march on Washington next month to pressure politicians to take action on gun violence.
Some lawmakers said it would take a powerful movement to motivate Congress.
"I am not optimistic that until there is real action by the American public to demand change in Congress that we're going to see real action to confront gun violence out of this Congress," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Throughout the weekend, the president's mind remained on Russia after an indictment from special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday charged 13 Russians with a plot to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
Trump viewed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's declaration that the indictment doesn't show that any American knowingly participated as proof of his innocence and is deeply frustrated that the media are still suggesting that his campaign may have colluded with Russian officials, according to a person who has spoken to the president in the last 24 hours but is not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.
He has fumed to associates at Mar-a-Lago that the media "won't let it go" and will do everything to delegitimize his presidency. He made those complaints to members who stopped by his table Saturday as he dined with his two adult sons and TV personality Geraldo Rivera.
Initially pleased with the Justice Department's statement, Trump has since griped that Rosenstein did not go far enough in declaring that he was cleared of wrongdoing, and grew angry when his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, gave credence to the notion that Russia's meddling affected the election, the person said.
Trump's frustration bubbled over on Twitter, where he stressed that the Russian effort began before he declared his candidacy, asserted that the Obama administration bears some blame for the election meddling and insisted he never denied that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 U.S. campaign.
James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the president was not focusing on the bigger threat.
"Above all this rhetoric here, again, we're losing sight of, what is it we're going to do about the threat posed by the Russians? And he never ? he never talks about that," said Clapper. "It's all about himself, collusion or not."
Trump tweeted about the nation's "heavy heart" in the wake of the shooting and noted the "incredible people" he met on his visit to the community. But he also sought to use the shooting to criticize the nation's leading law enforcement agency.
Trump said late Saturday that the FBI "missed all of the many signals" sent by the suspect and argued that agents are "spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign."
The FBI received a tip last month that the man now charged in the school shooting had a "desire to kill" and access to guns and could be plotting an attack. But the agency said Friday that agents failed to investigate.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican and frequent Trump critic, called that tweet an "absurd statement" on CNN's "State of the Union," adding that the "FBI apparently made a terrible mistake, and people should be held accountable. But we need leadership out of the executive."
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stressed on ABC's "This Week" that the indictment was not the end of the Mueller probe.
"I'd caution everybody to not believe that this is yet over, because there's lots of other places where Director Mueller to look regarding potential Russian involvement in all this," said Christie, a Republican. "I think we've unfortunately got more, more to learn and more to come, in the, in the days and weeks ahead."
Trump fumes about Russia investigation as nation mourns
As the nation mourned, President Donald Trump kept largely silent about the Florida school shooting victims and the escalating gun control debate, instead raging at the FBI for what he perceived to be a fixation on the Russia investigation at the cost of failing to deter the attack.
From the privacy of Mar-a-Lago, Trump vented about the investigation in a marathon series of tweets over the weekend. He said Sunday "they are laughing their asses off in Moscow'" at the lingering fallout from the Kremlin's election interference and that the Obama administration bears some blame for the meddling.
Trump was last seen publicly Friday night when he visited the Florida community reeling from a school shooting that left 17 dead and gave rise to a student-led push for more gun control. White House aides advised the president against golfing so soon after the tragedy, so Trump spent much of the holiday weekend watching cable television news and grousing to club members and advisers.
Trump met Sunday afternoon with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, discussing immigration, taxes, infrastructure and the Florida shooting, the White House said.
Amid a growing call for action on guns, the White House said Sunday the president will host a "listening session" with students and teachers this week, but offered no details on who would attend or what would be discussed.
On Monday, 17 Washington students plan a "lie-in" by the White House to advocate for tougher gun laws. Students who survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland are planning a march on Washington next month to pressure politicians to take action on gun violence.
Some lawmakers said it would take a powerful movement to motivate Congress.
"I am not optimistic that until there is real action by the American public to demand change in Congress that we're going to see real action to confront gun violence out of this Congress," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Throughout the weekend, the president's mind remained on Russia after an indictment from special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday charged 13 Russians with a plot to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
Trump viewed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's declaration that the indictment doesn't show that any American knowingly participated as proof of his innocence and is deeply frustrated that the media are still suggesting that his campaign may have colluded with Russian officials, according to a person who has spoken to the president in the last 24 hours but is not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.
He has fumed to associates at Mar-a-Lago that the media "won't let it go" and will do everything to delegitimize his presidency. He made those complaints to members who stopped by his table Saturday as he dined with his two adult sons and TV personality Geraldo Rivera.
Initially pleased with the Justice Department's statement, Trump has since griped that Rosenstein did not go far enough in declaring that he was cleared of wrongdoing, and grew angry when his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, gave credence to the notion that Russia's meddling affected the election, the person said.
Trump's frustration bubbled over on Twitter, where he stressed that the Russian effort began before he declared his candidacy, asserted that the Obama administration bears some blame for the election meddling and insisted he never denied that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 U.S. campaign.
James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the president was not focusing on the bigger threat.
"Above all this rhetoric here, again, we're losing sight of, what is it we're going to do about the threat posed by the Russians? And he never ? he never talks about that," said Clapper. "It's all about himself, collusion or not."
Trump tweeted about the nation's "heavy heart" in the wake of the shooting and noted the "incredible people" he met on his visit to the community. But he also sought to use the shooting to criticize the nation's leading law enforcement agency.
Trump said late Saturday that the FBI "missed all of the many signals" sent by the suspect and argued that agents are "spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign."
The FBI received a tip last month that the man now charged in the school shooting had a "desire to kill" and access to guns and could be plotting an attack. But the agency said Friday that agents failed to investigate.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican and frequent Trump critic, called that tweet an "absurd statement" on CNN's "State of the Union," adding that the "FBI apparently made a terrible mistake, and people should be held accountable. But we need leadership out of the executive."
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stressed on ABC's "This Week" that the indictment was not the end of the Mueller probe.
"I'd caution everybody to not believe that this is yet over, because there's lots of other places where Director Mueller to look regarding potential Russian involvement in all this," said Christie, a Republican. "I think we've unfortunately got more, more to learn and more to come, in the, in the days and weeks ahead."
fortune11 said:
Very easy to write slanted articles making it sound like Trump is "not mourning with the country" and "silent about gun control". How about instead of trying to pit people against the President, ABC writes a fully comprehensive article that says what Trump is actually doing?