American Politics Thread: Orange is the new POTUS

[calgarygeologist]

Did I miss something over the last week regarding Spicer? Why is Huckabee Sanders handling the press conferences now? Where is Spicey?

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Did I miss something over the last week regarding Spicer? Why is Huckabee Sanders handling the press conferences now? Where is Spicey?

Waiting for someone to bring him a shrubbery.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Did I miss something over the last week regarding Spicer? Why is Huckabee Sanders handling the press conferences now? Where is Spicey?

Lost in the Shrubbery.

[Zevo]

He's bushed. Just needs a moment.

[octothorp]

Maybe he's just hedging his bets.

[MissTeeks]

I hope Melissa McCarthy does her monolog on SNL in full Spicey costume standing behind some shrubs on Saturday.

[JackJack]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Did I miss something over the last week regarding Spicer? Why is Huckabee Sanders handling the press conferences now? Where is Spicey?

Spicey is in the penalty box. There are some reports that he's on Navy leave.

Other reports suggest that he is being sidelined for the way he handled the Comey communication plan.

[Biff]

We really need Spicer back so the White House can quit beating around the bushes about what really happened with Comey.

[FlameOn]

20 attorney generals calling for an independent special counsel investigation into Trump's firing of Comey

Days after President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in a reported fit of pique, 20 attorneys general, including Massachusetts' Maura Healey, are urging the US Department of Justice to appoint an independent special counsel to plumb for ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials who attempted to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.

"The administration's firing of FBI Director James Comey is a transparent attempt to obscure the truth and a violation of the public trust," Healey said in a statement.

"As state attorneys general, the chief law enforcement officers of our respective states, we urge the Justice Department to make this appointment immediately," she added.

The 20 attorneys general sent a two-paragraph letter calling for the special counsel to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

"As prosecutors committed to the rule of law, we urge you to consider the damage to our democratic system of any attempts by the administration to derail and delegitimize the investigation," they wrote.

"The residents of our states and the American people deserve a thorough investigation that makes clear the extent of Russian meddling, any collusion by Trump campaign officials, and any cover-up," they added."

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reportedly threatened to resign from his position after the White House cast him as the prime person behind the decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.

The other attorneys general who signed the letter are from Connecticut, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, California, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.s...including.html

[FlameOn]

Meanwhile Trump administration aides are not responding to information requests. Burr says he will blanket send subpeonas if they do not cooperate.

Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr on Tuesday threatened to subpoena Trump campaign aides if they ignore deadlines to turn over records to his panel, explaining that he had received just two responses to an initial request for information.

“I think all options are on the table, and I think you can envision what those options are,” the North Carolina Republican told reporters. “The most severe would be subpoena.”

The Intelligence panel’s top Democrat, Mark Warner of Virginia, said it appeared that just one person was complying with Tuesday’s initial deadline to provide the committee with records of any meetings they had with Russian officials ahead of the presidential election. Neither Warner nor Burr would name the individual who is complying.

Sorry Burr, they are too busy shredding documents to give you the time of day.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/0...s-trump-238173

[FlamesAddiction]

I love that the Russians are flaunting that they had unfettered access to the White House like that. I wonder if Trump and his thralls realize how hilarious that is from the Russian point of view. They basically grabbed Trump by his microdick and he is thanking them for it.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I love that the Russians are flaunting that they had unfettered access to the White House like that. I wonder if Trump and his thralls realize how hilarious that is from the Russian point of view. They basically grabbed Trump by his microdick and he is thanking them for it.

Definitely a ####.

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by photon

Trump calls Chris Cuomo a "chained lunatic," and Don Lemon "perhaps the dumbest person is broadcasting." And claims he's the only reason Colbert is still on the air:

You see a no-talent guy like Colbert. There’s nothing funny about what he says. And what he says is filthy. And you have kids watching. And it only builds up my base. It only helps me, people like him. The guy was dying. By the way they were going to take him off television, then he started attacking me and he started doing better. But his show was dying. I’ve done his show. … But when I did his show, which by the way was very highly rated. It was high highest rating. The highest rating he’s ever had.

http://time.com/4775633/donald-trump...c-chris-cuomo/

Is English Trump's second language?

There are gorillas that can speak in sign language better than Trump can speak in words....

Originally Posted by New Era

This is going to get interesting. Several days ago I was speaking with an individual with connections to FinCEN and they were saying that Ryan and McConnell could be part of the Trump web because of their connections to fundraising. Seems both may have been complicit in funds from foreign interest (Russia) being channeled into the Republican coffers. This could be explosive if it goes down the way described.

A light bulb just went off in my head:

One likely reason Trump is so adamant about not releasing his federal tax returns is that they would (or, should) contain various tax forms relating to properties and accounts held outside of the US. I wouldn't be surprised if he (whether personally or through his company) has numerous foreign bank accounts---all of which must be reported every year on the FBAR (now known as the FinCEN 114) form. Although that form is not part of one's tax return, it correlates to it, and failure to file it (or file it accurately) can result in stiff penalties. Same with the various "where are your foreign assets" federal tax forms.

If Ryan and McConnell were involved in GOP fundraising (which is a reasonable assumption to make), and some of the monies got funneled into Trump's personal and/or campaign accounts (again, a likely occurrence, at least as to the latter) from outside-US accounts (wild speculation) in which Ryan and/or McConnell had an interest (as defined under the FinCEN rules), could Ryan and McConnell be implicated in a FBAR, tax-fraud, or failure-to-file tax fiasco?

I can only imagine what a special or independent prosecutor might end up finding, which is likely why neither believe that one is necessary. After all, Clinton wasn't impeached over a failed land deal.....

[troutman]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

Meanwhile Trump administration aides are not responding to information requests. Burr says he will blanket send subpeonas if they do not cooperate.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Did I miss something over the last week regarding Spicer? Why is Huckabee Sanders handling the press conferences now? Where is Spicey?

[Street Pharmacist]

Presented without comment

[dsavillian]

^ that sums up America quite nicely.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

Is that the press secretary equivalent of blinking morse code?

[octothorp]

When I first saw that headline, my thought was that it was a metaphor, like his tax cut plan may amount to him benefitting more than others, but everyone benefits some. But no, it's literally about him having himself served more ice cream than his guests.

[FlameOn]

So that Russian troll photo op job on Trump was directly orchestrated directly by Putin. Putin requested the meeting after Comey firing, told him the pictures wouldn't be used, mocked the US Comey firing, released the pictures on State TV.

Did not know this was all orchestrated by Putin and Trump fell for the plan hook, line and sinker. Say what you will about Putin, the man is a tactical and political genius compared to Trump. I think this is the biggest indication Russia is done with Trump and he's on his own.

When President Donald Trump hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office on Wednesday just hours after firing the FBI director who was overseeing an investigation into whether Trump’s team colluded with the Russians, he was breaking with recent precedent at the specific request of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The chummy White House visit—photos of the president yukking it up with Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak were released by the Russian Foreign Ministry since no U.S. press was allowed to cover the visit—had been one of Putin’s asks in his recent phone call with Trump, and indeed the White House acknowledged this to me later Wednesday. “He chose to receive him because Putin asked him to,” a White House spokesman said of Trump’s Lavrov meeting. “Putin did specifically ask on the call when they last talked.”

The meeting was Lavrov’s first in the White House since 2013—and came after several years of the Obama administration’s flat-out refusal to grant him an Oval Office audience, two former senior White House officials told me. “The Russians were begging us for years to do that,” one of the former officials said. “They were constantly pushing for it and we were constantly saying no.”

The images of Trump putting his arm genially on Lavrov’s back—and a later White House official readout of the meeting that said Trump “emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia”—couldn’t have come at a more fraught political moment for Trump, amid a barrage of bipartisan criticism of his firing of FBI Director James Comey. On Wednesday morning before meeting with Trump, Lavrov even cracked a joke about his hosts’ political predicament, laughingly claiming not to have heard of the Comey firing while standing alongside Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...v-putin-215124