Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Forty Two » Wed Dec 13, 2017 8:44 pm

pErvinalia wrote:It's all a political beat up by Bill and Hillary. There's nothing wrong with constantly lying and holding secret meetings with representatives of fascist dictatorships.

....nobody has alleged that anyone in the Trump camp held secret meetings with representatives of fascist dictatorships.
“When I was in college, I took a terrorism class. ... The thing that was interesting in the class was every time the professor said ‘Al Qaeda’ his shoulders went up, But you know, it is that you don’t say ‘America’ with an intensity, you don’t say ‘England’ with the intensity. You don’t say ‘the army’ with the intensity,” she continued. “... But you say these names [Al Qaeda] because you want that word to carry weight. You want it to be something.” - Ilhan Omar

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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Forty Two » Wed Dec 13, 2017 8:50 pm

Brian Peacock wrote:
Text Messages in Hand, Republicans Plan to Accuse Justice Department of Bias

Accusations of bias, primed by the newly released texts from an F.B.I. agent, Peter Strzok, and an F.B.I. lawyer, Lisa Page, took center stage on Wednesday when Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mr. Mueller as special counsel, began testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Republicans pressed Mr. Rosenstein to appoint a second special counsel to investigate political partisanship in the department and to scrutinize Mr. Trump’s former presidential rival, Mrs. Clinton.

The campaign against the Justice Department, at the very least, provides a rallying cry for the president’s supporters to counter the drumbeat of news about Russian interference in the election and the possible collusion of the Trump campaign.

“Each and every day we are finding more and more instances of intractable bias that is infecting this investigation,” said Representative Matt Gaetz, a first-term Florida Republican who has emerged as one of Mr. Trump’s most vocal defenders on Capitol Hill.

Democrats on the committee tried to extract assurances from Mr. Rosenstein that Mr. Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia is safe.
Continue reading the main story

Mr. Mueller, a registered Republican appointed by President George W. Bush to direct the F.B.I., has long had critics in the most pro-Trump corners of the House and the conservative news media. But in recent weeks, as his investigation has delivered a series of indictments to high-profile associates of the president and evidence that at least two of them are cooperating with the inquiry, those critics have grown louder and in numbers....

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/13/us/p ... paign.html
It's interesting how someone's private political views are being beefed up to somehow represent the official public political view of their employer. This swings both ways of course - no member of the FBI can ever have political views again.
It's not a black and white issue. Of course people are allowed to have private political views. However, if the views impact one's job performance as an investigator in the FBI, then it is a problem. Before the Republicans knew about this, the guy was fired from the FBI for precisely these tweets. So, apparently Mueller thought they were a problem in August. Efforts were then taken to try to prevent the information from being made public or being disclosed to Congress, even though the documents showing the texts were within the scope of Congressional subpoenas.

If there was investigation of a prominent Democrat, and a Republican FBI agent was heavily involved and was referring to that Democrat as loathesome, and a douche and a scumbag, and dishonest, etc., then that would probably be viewed as an issue of concern. If, also, that same FBI agent was in charge of investigating a Republican, like Trump, and while making fawning comments about Trump, and highly negative and profane comments about Democrats, the agent modified a report about Trump to make it much less damning to him. Wouldn't that be a concern? I'm not saying it would be the end of the analysis, but would it not be a legitimate question to ask whether the FBI agent let his personal views influence his decision? Or, if role were reversed, would you simply say that the FBI is very trustworthy and their personal beliefs don't get in the way....?
“When I was in college, I took a terrorism class. ... The thing that was interesting in the class was every time the professor said ‘Al Qaeda’ his shoulders went up, But you know, it is that you don’t say ‘America’ with an intensity, you don’t say ‘England’ with the intensity. You don’t say ‘the army’ with the intensity,” she continued. “... But you say these names [Al Qaeda] because you want that word to carry weight. You want it to be something.” - Ilhan Omar

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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Forty Two » Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:00 pm

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fbis-t ... 1513210929
Wednesday’s revelations—they’re coming almost daily—include the Justice Department’s release of 2016 text messages to and from Peter Strzok, the FBI counterintelligence agent whom Mr. Mueller demoted this summer. The texts, which he exchanged with senior FBI lawyer Lisa Page, contain expletive-laced tirades against Mr. Trump. Such Trump hatred is no surprise and not by itself disqualifying. More troubling are texts that suggest that some FBI officials may have gone beyond antipathy to anti-Trump plotting.

“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office—that there’s no way [Trump] gets elected—but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk,” Mr. Strzok wrote Ms. Page in an Aug. 15, 2016 text. He added: “It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”


–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

What “policy” would that be? The “Andy” in question is Andrew McCabe, the deputy FBI director. FBI officials are allowed to have political opinions, but what kind of action were they discussing that would amount to anti-Trump “insurance”?

In another exchange that month, Ms. Page forwarded a Trump-related article and wrote: “Maybe you’re meant to stay where you are because you’re meant to protect the country from that menace.” He thanked her and assured: “Of course I’ll try and approach it that way.” Mr. Strzok, recall, is the man who changed the words “grossly negligent” to “extremely careless” in James Comey’s July 2016 public exoneration of Hillary Clinton’s emails.

The McCabe meeting came on the heels of the FBI’s launch of its counterintelligence probe into Trump-Russia ties. July is also when former British spook Christopher Steele briefed the FBI on his Clinton-financed dossier of salacious allegations against Mr. Trump. The texts explain why Mr. Mueller would remove Mr. Strzok, though a straight shooter wouldn’t typically resist turning those messages over to Congress for as long as Mr. Mueller did.

Meanwhile, we’re learning more about the political motives of Mr. Mueller’s lieutenant, Andrew Weissmann. Judicial Watch last week released an email in which Mr. Weissmann expressed his “awe” and praise for Sally Yates, after the then acting AG and Obama holdover refused to implement Mr. Trump’s travel ban.

This should trouble anyone who cares about the integrity of the Justice Department. Ms. Yates had every right to resign at the time if she felt she couldn’t implement Mr. Trump’s order. But she had no authority as an executive branch official to defy a legitimate presidential order. Mr. Weissmann’s support for her insubordination was a declaration that he is part of the “resistance.” This should be unacceptable in a ranking FBI official, much less someone charged with conducting a fair-minded investigation.

Public confidence isn’t helped by the continuing Justice and FBI refusal to cooperate with Congress. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who supervises Mr. Mueller, toed the Mueller-FBI line on Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. He repeated FBI Director Christopher Wray’s preposterous excuse that he can’t answer questions because of an Inspector General probe. And he wouldn’t elaborate on the news that Nellie Ohr, the wife of senior Justice official Bruce Ohr, worked for Fusion GPS, which hired Mr. Steele to gin up his dossier.
“When I was in college, I took a terrorism class. ... The thing that was interesting in the class was every time the professor said ‘Al Qaeda’ his shoulders went up, But you know, it is that you don’t say ‘America’ with an intensity, you don’t say ‘England’ with the intensity. You don’t say ‘the army’ with the intensity,” she continued. “... But you say these names [Al Qaeda] because you want that word to carry weight. You want it to be something.” - Ilhan Omar

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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Animavore » Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:53 pm

Good article on Trump's ignorance and incompetence. As if we needed one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics ... 01aa7f3e1d
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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Brian Peacock » Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:42 pm

Forty Two wrote:
Brian Peacock wrote:
Text Messages in Hand, Republicans Plan to Accuse Justice Department of Bias

Accusations of bias, primed by the newly released texts from an F.B.I. agent, Peter Strzok, and an F.B.I. lawyer, Lisa Page, took center stage on Wednesday when Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mr. Mueller as special counsel, began testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Republicans pressed Mr. Rosenstein to appoint a second special counsel to investigate political partisanship in the department and to scrutinize Mr. Trump’s former presidential rival, Mrs. Clinton.

The campaign against the Justice Department, at the very least, provides a rallying cry for the president’s supporters to counter the drumbeat of news about Russian interference in the election and the possible collusion of the Trump campaign.

“Each and every day we are finding more and more instances of intractable bias that is infecting this investigation,” said Representative Matt Gaetz, a first-term Florida Republican who has emerged as one of Mr. Trump’s most vocal defenders on Capitol Hill.

Democrats on the committee tried to extract assurances from Mr. Rosenstein that Mr. Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia is safe.
Continue reading the main story

Mr. Mueller, a registered Republican appointed by President George W. Bush to direct the F.B.I., has long had critics in the most pro-Trump corners of the House and the conservative news media. But in recent weeks, as his investigation has delivered a series of indictments to high-profile associates of the president and evidence that at least two of them are cooperating with the inquiry, those critics have grown louder and in numbers....

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/13/us/p ... paign.html
It's interesting how someone's private political views are being beefed up to somehow represent the official public political view of their employer. This swings both ways of course - no member of the FBI can ever have political views again.
It's not a black and white issue. Of course people are allowed to have private political views. However, if the views impact one's job performance as an investigator in the FBI, then it is a problem. Before the Republicans knew about this, the guy was fired from the FBI for precisely these tweets. So, apparently Mueller thought they were a problem in August. Efforts were then taken to try to prevent the information from being made public or being disclosed to Congress, even though the documents showing the texts were within the scope of Congressional subpoenas.

If there was investigation of a prominent Democrat, and a Republican FBI agent was heavily involved and was referring to that Democrat as loathesome, and a douche and a scumbag, and dishonest, etc., then that would probably be viewed as an issue of concern. If, also, that same FBI agent was in charge of investigating a Republican, like Trump, and while making fawning comments about Trump, and highly negative and profane comments about Democrats, the agent modified a report about Trump to make it much less damning to him. Wouldn't that be a concern? I'm not saying it would be the end of the analysis, but would it not be a legitimate question to ask whether the FBI agent let his personal views influence his decision? Or, if role were reversed, would you simply say that the FBI is very trustworthy and their personal beliefs don't get in the way....?
You've just made my point for me when you started talking about Republican and Democrat FBI agents. The implication is that holding political views effectively biases one's independence and professional competence because, a per you hypothetical, it represents a de facto and corrupting affiliation with a political organisation. The only solution is to ban FBI agents from having political opinions - or better still. out-source the work of the FBI to the lowest bid from the private sector.

Let us not ignore the point of my previous remark, which your foment also reinforced, that according to the article quoted this supposed corrupting affiliation compromises not just the independence of the individual agent but the independence of the agency as a whole.
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Tyrannical » Fri Dec 15, 2017 3:38 pm

What will Agent Peter Strzok say when he has to testify before Congress?

Any little lie and he knows he risks arrest.
Plead the 5th in order to avoid sell incrimination? Trump would Love that.
Refuse to answer? Executive branch (his FBI boss) could order him to testify.

and the question...

Who else on Mueller's team and in the FBI harbor anti-Trump sentiment that could possibly bias the investigation?

Trump is coming very close to being able to fire Mueller and company, and then have THEM investigated :hilarious:
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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Tero » Fri Dec 15, 2017 3:47 pm

He is setting up his own spy agency to spy on the FBI as we speak!

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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Brian Peacock » Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:30 am

The senior Democrat in a congressional Trump-Russia investigation has said he fears Republicans are manoeuvring to kill off inquiries into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

“I’m increasingly worried Republicans will shut down the House intelligence committee investigation at the end of the month,” said Adam Schiff, who is the leading Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

Schiff suggested Republicans also had their sights on the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation overseen by special counsel Robert Mueller. The president’s personal lawyers are reportedly set to meet Mueller and his team within days to ask about the next steps in his investigation.

“Beyond our investigation, here’s what has me really concerned: the attacks on [Robert] Mueller, the DoJ [the Department of Justice] and FBI this week make it clear they plan to go after Mueller’s investigation,” Schiff said.

“By shutting down the congressional investigations when they continue to discover new and important evidence, the White House can exert tremendous pressure to end or curtail [Robert] Mueller’s investigation or cast doubt on it. We cannot let that happen.”...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... _clipboard
Are the GOP becoming apologists for pedos and traitors? Come on America, this has ramifications for global democracy, not just who gets keys to the congressional washroom.
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by pErvinalia » Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:03 am

Conservatives don't give a shit about democracy. They are born to rule. If they can't do it legally, they'll do it illegally.
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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Seabass » Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:21 am

If they shut down the Mueller investigation, the US will have completed its transition from democracy to oligarchy. Seriously. I don't think that's a hyperbolic statement. There are even some on the far right who are worried about this. I knew Trump would be a terrible president, but he's exceeded all my expectations.
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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by L'Emmerdeur » Sat Dec 16, 2017 5:42 pm

Meh, the US has been a crypto-oligarchy for some time now. It's becoming an outright kakistocracy at this point.

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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Brian Peacock » Sat Dec 16, 2017 6:30 pm

L'Emmerdeur wrote:Meh, the US has been a crypto-oligarchy for some time now. It's becoming an outright kakistocracy at this point.
ibid wrote:... Donald Trump campaigned by promising to run government like a business. Unfortunately, that business is Trump University...
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by pErvinalia » Sun Dec 17, 2017 1:53 am

But he's draining the swamp... :dunno:
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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by L'Emmerdeur » Sun Dec 17, 2017 5:07 pm

Trump lawyers are not happy that Mueller now has access to Trump transition team emails. Apparently they thought those emails were being protected by a Trump appointee, but he went and died, and now they're crying to Congress. If the Trump lawyers truly believe that the Special Counsel's office got those emails illegally, why haven't they filed suit for an injunction against the Special Counsel, rather than writing a letter to Republican representatives?

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'Key Officials Push Back Against Trump Campaign’s Claim That A Federal Office Illegally Turned Over Emails To Special Counsel'

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Re: Enjoy President Trump, Courtesy of The Kremlin

Post by Brian Peacock » Sun Dec 17, 2017 5:29 pm

It doesn't matter if it's true or not, the charge that the investigation acquired the emails illegally only needs to be aired to be believed by those who've already made up their mind about it. One more bit of fake news added to the avalanche of fake news, concern trolling, miss-direction and miss-information the #FAKENEWSMEDIA have to wade through. At this point I would even be surprised if we heard allegations that the Trump appointee in charge of keeping Trump Campaign emails away from the FBI was actually murdered by the FBI. Again, it wouldn't have to be true, just spread around and concern trolled on FOX and infowars for a couple of days - all adding to the GOP's ongoing screed about how the FBI are a biased and corrupt organisation incapable of independent investigation.
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"This is how humanity ends; bickering over the irrelevant."
Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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