The Russia Investigations and other Trump-related cases

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Now Nunberg says "I'm going to cooperate with whatever they want."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/06/politics ... index.html

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[Primula Baggins]

Someone called his mother late yesterday (by accident, thinking it was Nunberg’s number) and she said he wasn’t available to be interviewed because he wasn’t doing well. In one of yesterday’s CNN interviews the interviewer (Erin something) asked him flat out whether he was drunk or high, and commented that she could smell alcohol on his breath. He claimed to be sober.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

He claimed to be sober, but also volunteered that the only thing he had taken was his anti-depressant medication. I wonder whether he actually did not.

[RoseMorninStar]

As Frelga said, It's not funny watching someone fall apart in public like that. The stress must be incredible.

That said, something else occurred to me. That he could be giving the 'head's up' to other people caught up in this mess without contacting them. Sort of like Trump (allegedly/coincidentally??) asking Russia if they were listening to release Hillary's emails.. and *boom*. Considering Roger Stone, his mentor was potentially involved in those types of communications, it made me wonder.

[River]

I saw some speculation that he's putting himself in the public eye so he doesn't die by shooting himself in the back of the head or poisoning himself with polonium.

[Primula Baggins]

<horrible dark laughter>

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Trump Spoke to Witnesses About Matters They Discussed With Special Counsel

This seems like a big deal to me, particularly the part about him telling McGahn to deny the report that Trump tried to get McGahn to fire Mueller. But because it is Trump, it is just shrugged off.

[Primula Baggins]

I would guess that Mueller isn’t shrugging it off.

[Frelga]

But won't it still be up to the Congress to do anything about Mueller's findings?

Eta:

An update on the Nunberg will-he, won’t-he drama: He says he’s now compiled all the docs Mueller asked for, tells me, “It ended up not being as onerous as I thought it would be.”

Jill Colvin, AP White House reporter

[Primula Baggins]

Yeah, he discovered the "sort" function on his email program.

I'm hoping that Mueller is steering the right course here. He's issuing indictments that make it clear he's building a case against Trump, ones that are dangerous enough that they may prevent Trump from firing him with Nixon's example out there, but he's not barreling toward a conclusion. By the time he reaches one and names Trump, it is just possible that the House and Senate will be in the hands of Democrats, or clearly about to become so.

[Frelga]

Meanwhile, Russian Embassy in UK tweeted about Skripal, "actually, he's an MI6 spy." Well, that's all right, then.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

But won't it still be up to the Congress to do anything about Mueller's findings?

It will be up to Rod Rosenstein (assuming he is still employed as the Deputy Attorney General and de factor Attorney General with regard to the the Russia investigation that Sessions has recused himself on) to authorize any indictments that Mueller wants to generate, or to issue any reports on findings regarding the president's conduct. Whether he can actually indict the president is an open question. More likely he would issue a report finding that the president has engaged in criminal conduct that would constitute "high crimes and misdemeanors" (the standard for impeachment). Then it would be up to Congress to act. Or not act.

My prediction, however, is that he'll generate another indictment charging various Russians with hacking emails from the DNC and John Podesta, but then issue a statement saying that the president and those close to him engaged in inappropriate conduct but that there was insufficient evidence to conclusively find that any of them unlawfully conspired with the Russians or that the president unlawfully obstructed justice.

ETA: Skripal, for those who don't follow things as closely as Frelga and I, is the former Russian spy who along with his daughter and a local policeman was poisoned recently in the UK with an unidentified nerve agent

[Dave_LF]

I don't know about Mueller, but what I've seen has convinced me that getting rid of the Russian inflitration is more important than getting rid of Trump. Inasmuch as the two are separate.

[Frelga]

I think that means getting rid of the Republicans in Congress. Trump himself has no convictions, he'll say and do anything that he thinks will get him money or attention. It's McConnell and Co who are the root of the problem.

Meanwhile,

NEWS: Trump’s legal team may tell Mueller he can interview the president if, among other considerations, he agrees to a timeline for ending the Trump-related portion of the Russia probe—for example, 60 days from the date of the interview. W/@PeterWSJ https://t.co/oW1LoFuP2D

That doesn't seem like standard procedure?

Also meanwhile, Nunberg has been testifying for over five hours, last I saw.

Meanwhile 3, @MSNBC

EXCLUSIVE: Trump lawyer Michael Cohn used Trump Org. email address while arranging deal with adult film star Stormy Daniels https://t.co/0ksd4ph7BA

I don't know if this is significant, or why. Or if anything means anything anymore.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[OT]It is potentially significant, because Cohen has denied that either Trump or the Trump Organization had anything to do with the payment. Apparently among the emails was one from the bank to Cohen confirming that the funds had been transferred to Cohen's account. That potentially suggests that contrary to what Cohen has insisted, the funds actually originated with the Trump Organization, not from Cohen himself. The more that the payment can be connected to the Trump Organization the more likely it is that Trump himself could be charged with election campaign contribution laws (which of course will never happen, even if it should).[ETA: Cohen subsequently claimed that the funds were transferred from his personal home equity line to his personal checking account and that is what the email from the bank was referring to. He also said that he often conducted personal business using his Trump org email.][/OT]

Nunberg apparently testified for over six hours. Who knows whether he said anything relevant in all that time.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Just to tie the last few posts together.

How Stormy Daniels could impact the Russia investigation

[Frelga]

Trump Doesn’t Deny He’s Recruiting an Impeachment Lawyer

According to The New York Times, Trump met last week with veteran attorney Emmet T. Flood, who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in 1998. A number of sources confirmed that an interview had taken place in the Oval Office, during which the two discussed the possibility of Flood joining Trump’s team to help deal with Mueller’s inquiry. If Flood agreed, his duties would consist of “a day-to-day role helping the president navigate his dealings with the Justice Department.”

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And then he did deny it.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-fe ... yer-2018-3

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[RoseMorninStar]

There are always a confused jumble of chaotic nonsense statements and double talk and I am continually... puzzled when people say they like him because he 'tells it like it is'. No, he is not straightforward. He acts as if life/the presidency is a movie set where they can cut anything that he doesn't like and pretend no one saw it. The only thing I can relate to 'tell it like it is' is his endorsement and encouragement of hate and prejudice.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

To me it seems that he acts like the presidency is a reality show in which conflict and chaos help boost ratings. After all, it is his main qualification for the job.

An interesting article from Bloomberg suggesting that Mueller is close to finishing the obstruction portion of his investigation but is likely to hold off making any announcements about it until the rest of the investigation is finished.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... spartanntp