Bartlett posted this on FB and I think it’s pretty spot-on.
So don’t fear for Jared Kushner or Donald Trump. As Bruce Bartlett, a GOP apostate and former staffer for Jack Kemp, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, glumly put it, if Watergate happened today, “Nixon would have finished his term.”
Terrifying and probably true. Ugh.
So the White House is considering blocking Comey from testifying. While this is actually possible it seems to be problematic since Trump has already talked about his meetings with Comey. It comes down to executive privilege. But yet again, as in the Paris Accord, Trump seems to have shot himself in the foot.
Anything you tweet can and will be used against you (provided it can be translated, of course):
President Donald Trump’s Twitter feed – packed with more than 35,000 time-stamped missives dating to 2009 – offers a treasure trove of evidence for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his growing team of investigators, according to lawyers and veterans of past White House scandals.
Like emails, handwritten notes or transcribed Oval Office conversations, the @realdonaldtrump account gives investigators a detailed timeline of Trump’s thoughts and opinions – including where they might differ from official accounts – and can also be used to establish intent, which can be critical in a criminal investigation…
…Trump isn’t a stranger to seeing his Twitter feed used against him in court. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was presiding over a class action lawsuit involving Trump University, ruled last November that Trump’s social media posts and other remarks critical of the judge’s record and ethnic heritage – Curiel is of Mexican descent – were fair game in a trial that ultimately was pushed aside because of a last-minute settlement.
Those who refuse to learn from their past mistakes are doomed to repeat them.
I think the only “impeccable credential” Trump cares about is that he was Chris Christie’s defense attorney during Bridgegate (and, so far anyway, Christie has gotten off scott free.)
Well, he didn’t decline the job, so I’m sure that helps.
Hearings this morning with Coats and Rogers were a big nothing-burger of “I can’t talk about any specific conversations with the president because of confidentiality” but I “didn’t feel pressured to do anything illegal or immoral”.
I suspect that tomorrow’s hearing will be just as much of a yawn-fest.
What’s super lame about this is that there is no legitimate reason for these guys refusing to answer these questions. There is no issue with classified data. There is no question of executive privilege. They are just saying, “I don’t think that would be appropriate to talk about that.”
But WTF is the point then, if no one is answering any questions about anything?
I guess on some level, the fact that they aren’t answering the questions is itself an answer, since most of these questions could easily be answered with a “no”, unless the answer isn’t “no.”
Sounds like they are stonewalling and D’s are getting pissed. Hearings described as ‘tense.’ Couple highlights:
I suppose it’s possible that Special Counsel Mueller told them to clam up, right?
Sure, but then why not say that? “I have been advised by Special Counsel that the question being asked might endanger his ongoing investigation, and I must therefore decline to answer.”
There’s a closed session later today. The open session is pointless if they aren’t willing to speak freely.
It seems the closed session is a technical briefing relating solely to the mechanics of section 702 of the FISA courts. Basically, ain’t gonna get any extra info on the Russia investigation… until someone leaks it.
My Senator, Kamala Harris, getting pretty pissy at Rod Rosenstein.
McCain said ‘Orwellian.’ Woo hoo!
Note that Coats doesn’t refute that the meeting with Trump went down exactly as the WaPo reported it, just that it being reported doesn’t declassify it. Telling.
McCain to Coats: “Do you want to tell us anything about the Russian involvement in our election that hasn’t already been printed in the Washington Post?”
I know he’s a paper tiger, but his comments are pretty funny anyway.