American Politics Thread: Orange is the new POTUS

[photon]

CNN report, Tapper says they were asked to not name the city the intel came from when they reported about the laptop bomb threat in March, being told that revealing the city would get people killed. That's the same info Trump apparently disclosed to the Russians.

https://twitter.com/TheLeadCNN/statu...92607099457537

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

NBC reporting Comey plans on going public with memo's content.

That ####ty Tom Clancy novel is getting a bit more exciting!

Keep Tom Clancy's name out your mouth - his corpse would make a better POTUS at this juncture.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Trump isn't going anywhere, I can't understand why people continually think "This is it!" after all the stuff he's gotten away with so far. The only thing possibly removing him from office will be him stepping down for "health reasons" (dementia), which will allow all his corrupt and criminal dealings to be swept under the rug. No way does he actually ever face criminal charges or even an impeachment hearing, the GOP is far too self-serving to ever allow that to happen

There is a strong legal argument that a sitting president can't face a criminal indictment. The only way he can be held accountable is by impeachment proceedings through Congress.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) reportedly said Tuesday that scandals within President Trump's administration are reaching a "Watergate size and scale."

McCain made the statement at a International Republican Institute dinner on Tuesday night. Multiple reporters said that during a speech at the event, McCain compared recent reports surrounding Trump's administration to Watergate.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politi...PKt?li=AAggNb9

Such a maverick.

[FlameOn]

Trump apparently asked Comey about locking up members of the press that were giving Trump a hard time.

The New York Times delivered a bombshell report — also confirmed by NBC News — on Tuesday evening that revealed that former FBI director James Comey wrote in a memo that President Donald Trump asked him to drop the bureau's investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

Buried in the Times report is a note that Trump asked Comey to consider imprisoning reporters for publishing classified information.

"Alone in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information, according to one of Mr. Comey's associates," The New York Times said.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has since responded to those comments, noting that the "President doesn't get to jail journalists."

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/16/trump...the-press.html

[getbak]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/16/trump...the-press.html

No fair, his buddies Putin and Erdogan get to throw journalists in jail.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by photon

CNN report, Tapper says they were asked to not name the city the intel came from when they reported about the laptop bomb threat in March, being told that revealing the city would get people killed. That's the same info Trump apparently disclosed to the Russians.

Though as NY Times notes:

Among the details the president shared was the city in Syria where the ally picked up information about the plot, though Mr. Trump is not believed to have disclosed that the intelligence came from a Middle Eastern ally or precisely how it was gathered.

Telling Russia, a country that's also fighting ISIS, that information isn't likely to get people killed.

But the media happily disclosing to ISIS (and the rest of the world) that this was an Israeli operation with an Israeli spy that's compromised a laptop bomb program in a ISIS held Syrian city could get people killed.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by accord1999

Though as NY Times notes:

Telling Russia, a country that's also fighting ISIS, that information isn't likely to get people killed.

But the media happily disclosing to ISIS (and the rest of the world) that this was an Israeli operation with an Israeli spy that's compromised a laptop bomb program in a ISIS held Syrian city could get people killed.

Russia isn't fighting Isis, it is fighting for Assad and yes telling Russia 'we've got operatives in Homs that tell us they are building laptop bombs will get people killed just as soon as Assad ends up in charge of Homs, he no more wants US allys in his midst than Isis does.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

Russia isn't fighting Isis, it is fighting for Assad and yes telling Russia 'we've got operatives in Homs that tell us they are building laptop bombs will get people killed just as soon as Assad ends up in charge of Homs, he no more wants US allys in his midst than Isis does.

And fighting for Assad often means killing ISIS members.

And Trump didn't tell Russia they had operatives in Homs (or whatever), that was all on the media, since Trump apparently didn't have the information on how that intelligence was sourced and from whom. But now thanks to the media, ISIS now knows.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by accord1999

And fighting for Assad often means killing ISIS members.

And Trump didn't tell Russia they had operatives in Homs (or whatever), that was all on the media, since Trump apparently didn't have the information on how that intelligence was sourced and from whom. And now thanks to the media, ISIS knows too.

No, the media hasn't reported any of that, it was Trump who apparently was boasting about having the greatest intelligence, still you want to continue to believe he isn't a moron I can at least can admire your perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

No, the media hasn't reported any of that, it was Trump who apparently was boasting about having the greatest intelligence, still you want to continue to believe he isn't a moron I can at least can admire your perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds.

I quoted from the NY Times where even they say that Trump did not provide details about the source and method of the intelligence. That is something that the media disclosed to ISIS.

Whatever damage you think Trump did, the media did far worse.

[Biff]

The original reports stated that Trump disclosed the city in which the intelligence originated. He did not know sources and methods but did know the city, which he shared.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Biff

The original reports stated that Trump disclosed the city in which the intelligence originated. He did not know sources and methods but did know the city, which he shared.

And I said before:

But the media happily disclosing to ISIS (and the rest of the world) that this was an Israeli operation with an Israeli spy that's compromised a laptop bomb program in a ISIS held Syrian city.

Enough information that ISIS could narrow it down, if not figure it out.

And while the Russian intelligence services may be very good, I'm not sure just having the city means that they would somehow figure out it was an Israeli agent, as opposed to American signal intelligence or drones or prisoners, etc.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by accord1999

I quoted from the NY Times where even they say that Trump did not provide details about the source and method of the intelligence. That is something that the media disclosed to ISIS.

Whatever damage you think Trump did, the media did far worse.

I think if Trump had the common sense of my daughters gerbil he would have kept his stupid yap shut in front of the bloody Russians, at which point US intelligence wouldn't have had to ring up the Mossad to apologise that their operatives were compromised by Trump to the Assad regime, at which point the Mossad wouldn't have been so pissed at Trump they called their sources at the Post, and so there wouldn't be any media stories about any of this, it is all on Trump

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by accord1999

And I said before:

Enough information that ISIS could narrow it down, if not figure it out.

And while the Russian intelligence services may be very good, I'm not sure just having the city means that they would somehow figure out it was an Israeli agent, as opposed to American signal intelligence or drones or prisoners, etc.

In Syria when Isis or Assad 'narrow it down' they just kill everyone in that group, village, town or city. You seem to think they have some kind of scruples against slaughtering civilians over there.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I think if Trump had the common sense of my daughters gerbil he would have kept his stupid yap shut in front of the bloody Russians,

The US and Russia have some intelligence sharing already, especially with respect to ISIS, and something related to protecting civilian airliners from new bombing threats is more than reasonable to share. I'm surprised it wasn't shared earlier, given how long ago it was that the US and UK implemented the laptop bans and how even Canada was thinking about it.

at which point US intelligence wouldn't have had to ring up the Mossad to apologise that their operatives were compromised by Trump to the Assad regime, at which point the Mossad wouldn't have been so pissed at Trump they called their sources at the Post, and so there wouldn't be any media stories about any of this, it is all on Trump

But nothing Trump said could have easily compromised the Israeli operatives, it wasn't until the media reported there were actual Israeli operatives to the world that they became threatened.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

In Syria when Isis or Assad 'narrow it down' they just kill everyone in that group, village, town or city. You seem to think they have some kind of scruples against slaughtering civilians over there.

Yeah, I agree for ISIS. But the information that Trump gave to Russia would not have been enough to narrow it down for them, they wouldn't even know there was an operative. And they still need to take back the city first.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by accord1999

The US and Russia have some intelligence sharing already, especially with respect to ISIS, and something related to protecting civilian airliners from new bombing threats is more than reasonable to share. I'm surprised it wasn't shared earlier, given how long ago it was that the US and UK implemented the laptop bans and how even Canada was thinking about it.

But nothing Trump said could have easily compromised the Israeli operatives, it wasn't until the media reported there were actual Israeli operatives to the world that they became threatened.

Has it ever occurred to you to ask why Trump was having any of these conversations at all?
When countries share intelligence it doesn't mean their presidents ring each other up, their intelligence chiefs are the ones that are supposed to have those chats.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by accord1999

Yeah, I agree for ISIS. But the information that Trump gave to Russia would not have been enough to narrow it down for them, they wouldn't even know there was an operative. And they still need to take back the city first.

Or they just tell Isis and let them take care of it.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

Has it ever occurred to you to ask why Trump was having any of these conversations at all?

To build a stronger relationship in the fight against ISIS. One way to do that is to help Russia improve its civilian airliner security if it didn't already know. After all, Russia in 2015 may have suffered a loss of an airliner with 200+ passengers from such an attack.

When countries share intelligence it doesn't mean their presidents ring each other up, their intelligence chiefs are the ones that are supposed to have those chats.

But it can, since the American president has final say on classification.