American Politics Thread: Orange is the new POTUS

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Obstruction charges are only the result of there being evidence of a party willfully engaging in misleading or preventing said investigation from finding that evidence. In other words, the investigation has discovered circumstances they believe are evidence, but the party in question has taken steps to prevent the investigation from accessing sources to confirm their beliefs. Obstruction charges here are extremely damning and may support the case for further charges in the Russia probe.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It would be utterly epic if there was no evidence of collusion with Russia (or better yet, the evidence completely exonerated him), but he was still found to have engaged in criminal obstruction of justice. He'd be convicted of trying to stop an investigation that was ultimately helping to him. That would be vintage Trump.

[octothorp]

This article is a fascinating look at just who Mueller has on his team, especially Aaron Zebley, who was in the field pursuing Al Qaeda agents before 9/11.

https://www.wired.com/story/robert-m...tigation-team/

edit: I think this is the most interesting hint:

Also, while the Special Counsel’s office has yet to make any formal announcements about Mueller’s team, it appears he has recruited an experienced Justice Department trial attorney, Lisa Page, a little-known figure outside the halls of Main Justice but one whose résumé boasts intriguing hints about where Mueller’s Russia investigation might lead. Page has deep experience with money laundering and organized crime cases, including investigations where she’s partnered with an FBI task force in Budapest, Hungary, that focuses on eastern European organized crime. That Budapest task force helped put together the still-unfolding money laundering case against Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash, a one-time business partner of Manafort.

[jeffporfirio]

Somehow, I tend to believe that what will ultimately bring him down is something unrelated to the Russia/obstruction of justice investigation. An unrelated crime like tax evasion, that will be uncovered by the Russia investigation.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by jeffporfirio

Somehow, I tend to believe that what will ultimately bring him down is something unrelated to the Russia/obstruction of justice investigation. An unrelated crime like tax evasion, that will be uncovered by the Russia investigation.

I don't think that it even needs to be uncovered by the Russian investigation. New York is already looking hard into those types of things. It doesn't have the same press as Russia but this family is being investigated by numerous people. There is a heck of a lot of smoke that at some point I think someone is going to find the fire.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

You have to remind yourself daily that this guy is the president of the U.S.

Donald J. Trump‏@realDonaldTrump
You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history - led by some very bad and conflicted people! #MAGA

[Looch City]

The #MAGA just completes it. Amazing.

[AltaGuy]

Originally Posted by jeffporfirio

Somehow, I tend to believe that what will ultimately bring him down is something unrelated to the Russia/obstruction of justice investigation. An unrelated crime like tax evasion, that will be uncovered by the Russia investigation.

I still think there's a decent chance Russia screws him over before anything is proven and so they subtly (or blatantly) release a bunch of stuff to take Trump and everyone around him down.

I don't think Trump is Russia's puppet at all: he's their democracy- and information- bomb. It would be fun for the Russians to turn on Trump, release a bunch of stuff, and watch American democracy eat itself up in the process/crisis. Russia's goal was always to destabilize; I don't think they really have any pretense of being in control of the thing they've created. Not even sure they'd want that.

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

You have to remind yourself daily that this guy is the president of the U.S.

Donald J. Trump‏@realDonaldTrump
You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history - led by some very bad and conflicted people! #MAGA

I have to convince myself it's real, every day.

[direwolf]

Trump's twitter tantrum and that ridiculous statement from the WH just scream "I'm guilty". As usual, it sounds like a spoiled toddler just lashing out, throwing s--t at the wall, and hoping it somehow rattles Mueller and his team.

[CaptainCrunch]

President Pence becomes a clearer and clearer and unfortunate side effect of Trump going nut.

[photon]

Kind of a disturbing statistic...


No full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a 2-bedroom apartment in any US state

...

That's according to new research by the National Low Income Housing Coalition covered by The Washington Post. Across the country, it reports, even full-time workers would have to make about or more than twice as much to afford a home.

In states such as Alaska, Washington, Colorado, Florida, Virginia, Illinois and most of the Northeast, workers would have to make over $20 an hour. Workers in California, D.C. and Hawaii are the hardest hit by the price of housing: They need to earn a whopping $30, $33 or $35 an hour, respectively, to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/12/nobod...apartment.html

[AltaGuy]

Originally Posted by photon

Kind of a disturbing statistic...


No full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a 2-bedroom apartment in any US state

...

That's according to new research by the National Low Income Housing Coalition covered by The Washington Post. Across the country, it reports, even full-time workers would have to make about or more than twice as much to afford a home.

In states such as Alaska, Washington, Colorado, Florida, Virginia, Illinois and most of the Northeast, workers would have to make over $20 an hour. Workers in California, D.C. and Hawaii are the hardest hit by the price of housing: They need to earn a whopping $30, $33 or $35 an hour, respectively, to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/12/nobod...apartment.html

I'm sure that's going to be totally sustainable in the long-run.

[chemgear]

[FanIn80]

I've called Presidents a lot of things over the years, but "dbag," "loser," "knob," "jackass," and "clown" was never one of them until this one.

Never in my lifetime would I have ever imagined not being impressed by meeting a POTUS, but if ever saw this one coming, I would literally roll my eyes and walk the other way. It's like he just doesn't even count. It's weird. It's like there's the "PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES," and then there's this clown. The whole thing is just so surreal.

[chemgear]

That's awfully kinda of Putin.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...ecution-in-u-s

Putin Offers Political Asylum To James Comey, Citing Potential Prosecution In U.S.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by chemgear

That's awfully kinda of Putin.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...ecution-in-u-s

Putin Offers Political Asylum To James Comey, Citing Potential Prosecution In U.S.

Holy cow. Putin is literally following the talking points in the leaked White House memo. He's trying to equate Comey to Snowden by "offering him asylum" so he can avoid "criminal prosecution" in the US.

In other words... Putin is saying "Comey is a leaker."

[Titan]

Say what you will about Putin, and you should as I think he is generally a monster, but wow, his trolling game is on point.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

It would be utterly epic if there was no evidence of collusion with Russia (or better yet, the evidence completely exonerated him), but he was still found to have engaged in criminal obstruction of justice. He'd be convicted of trying to stop an investigation that was ultimately helping to him. That would be vintage Trump.

Except the political fallout would be that he never gets impeached. Congress wouldn't get him on obstruction as the GOP could argue he was simply trying to stop a waste of public dollars. That would play well to the "39%". They'd never need to impeach

[Swift]

Originally Posted by chemgear

That's awfully kinda of Putin.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...ecution-in-u-s

Putin Offers Political Asylum To James Comey, Citing Potential Prosecution In U.S.

The report in the Guardian referred to Putin saying it "sarcastically" and "jokingly"