2935

Popehat spent last week skewering them, and that was pretty hilarious. ;)

2936
2937
2938

What NBC News is confirming is Trump’s comments to the Russians on Comey, not sealed indictments, grand juries, or Kushner as a target.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it was K T Mcfarland who was the target, since she was close to Flynn and remains in the White House. I remain unconvinced that the investigation has picked up much beyond the many rules Flynn broke. If Kushner really is a target, of course, everything changes.

2939

Misunderstood when backtracking.

Kushner is pretty much confirmed a person of interest, but that is a vague statement than can mean 100 different things.

The rest of it is… whatever. There are grand juries involved. Sealed indictments is… just silly according to basically everyone.

2940

I know someone who is going on Mensch’s #TeamDeza list now @ShivaX ;)

The fact that Mensch labels anyone who disagree with her as a Russian agent should be enough reason for people to ignore her. I don’t think she has really come up with anything. Even the FISA story, it’s not like that thought of that wasn’t being discussed, so you could have just been throwing shit at the wall to see if it sticks. I’d take anything they say with a grain of salt. If it is legit it will show up with real reporters at some point.

2941

Heh, Karl Rove is on CNN saying this most recent stuff looks real bad for Trump.

2942

You know you really have gone off the range if Karl Rove thinks it is bad

2943

Say it isn’t so:

2944

This is news?

2945

Can Trump pardon himself? Really, it’s starting to sound that crazy.

I guess he can’t because that would be like getting three wishes from a genie and using the last wish to wish for more wishes.

2946

A person can be pardoned before being convicted and even before being charged with anything. The pardon need not specify what offenses are covered. President Richard Nixon’s case exemplifies this breadth; Nixon had not been indicted, but President Gerald Ford pardoned him preemptively for every federal offense he had “committed or may have committed” while in office.

No president has ever tried to pardon himself, let alone been prosecuted after trying to pardon himself, so no court has had a chance to rule on the validity of self-pardons. Nixon considered pardoning himself just before he resigned. His lawyer advised him that he had the power, but Nixon decided against it. President Bill Clinton rendered the issue moot by reaching a settlement with his special prosecutor the day before he left office (and pardoned 140 people other than himself).

If a court ever did consider the issue, the decision could go either way because there are reasonable arguments on both sides. The president (or ex-president by the time he would be prosecuted) would have a very simple case that his self-pardon was valid: There is nothing in the Constitution that explicitly forbids it.

2947

If Trump could pardon himself he would’ve robbed Fort Knox already.

2948

Ha ha – and then he would have reverted us to using gold to back the dollar.

We really just need to put up prison fences around Mar-a-Lago and remove him from office and not tell him, but confine him there. “Mr. President, the Capital has been moved here for security reasons and you have been appointed President for Life, but it’s too unsafe to leave. Your tee time is in 45 minutes.”

2949

Robert Reich, on Facebook, suggested presidential annulment as an alternative to resignation/impeachment: https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/photos/a.404595876219681.103599.142474049098533/1572411606104763/?type=3
“I’m referring to action that officially negates the Trump presidency as an historic error.”

2950

Hah! YGG.

2951

If Trump pardoned himself, he would lose his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Congress could ask him about anything, and he would have to answer truthfully or go to jail.

Just sayin’

2952

Exactly… we’re still waiting for the Fort Knox and Federal Reserve Audits, the reversion to the gold standard, and the release of the Roswell alien contact info. MAGA!

2953

Shh! Don’t tell him.

2954

What if he pardoned himself for perjury?