Trump 2017: Year Zero

[Jinsai]

I'm knowledgable about some law, though I'm not a lawyer...

But this seems like "OJ is about to go free" because our language is failing us. All the pieces fit, the timing of everything is too perfect...
Coy language, like the exaggerated type you see in gangster movies, is what Trump seems to defer to when he knows he's crossing a line.

Also, why didn't any of his "allies" there in this inquisition "pressure" him to expand his thoughts more on the Lester Holt interview, wherein Trump admitted the decision to fire him because of the Russia investigation? Maybe I missed it, I had to run out the door to take a piss, and I've had some stuff to do in the background this morning, but I was waiting for that, and I only heard Comey bringing it up, in what almost sounded like a frustrated "HEY, GUYS, OVER HERE!!!!" kinda way.

[allegro]

I'm knowledgable about some law, though I'm not a lawyer...

But this seems like "OJ is about to go free" because our language is failing us. All the pieces fit, the timing of everything is too perfect...
Coy language, like the exaggerated type you see in gangster movies, is what Trump seems to defer to when he knows he's crossing a line.

Also, why didn't any of his "allies" there in this inquisition "pressure" him to expand his thoughts more on the Lester Holt interview, wherein Trump admitted the decision to fire him because of the Russia investigation? Maybe I missed it, I had to run out the door to take a piss, and I've had some stuff to do in the background this morning, but I was waiting for that, and I only heard Comey bringing it up, in what almost sounded like a frustrated "HEY, GUYS, OVER HERE!!!!" kinda way.

They did ask Comey, over and over, why he thought he was fired, and he said he didn't know, other than what was common knowledge per the Press (which is hearsay and speculation) and what Trump said, "because of Russia."

But, again, Trump SAID that but it might not even be TRUE. Trump likes to take credit for everything and give fake reasons for everything, then he backtracks. He's a guy who is used to firing people for whatever reason he wants, it's the CEO purview to be able to fire at will.

[Jinsai]

They did ask Comey, over and over, why he thought he was fired, and he said he didn't know, other than what was common knowledge per the Press (which is hearsay and speculation) and what Trump said, "because of Russia."

But, again, Trump SAID that but it might not even be TRUE. Trump likes to take credit for everything and give fake reasons for everything, then he backtracks. He's a guy who is used to firing people for whatever reason he wants, it's the CEO purview to be able to fire at will.

The impeachment proceedings against Nixon began when, asked if they should do something to cover this up, Nixon muttered a barely audible "mhmmm" onto a grainy reel recording that sounds (by modern standards) like it was recorded with a potato.

[allegro]

The impeachment proceedings against Nixon began when, asked if they should do something to cover this up, Nixon muttered a barely audible "mhmmm" onto a grainy reel recording that sounds (by modern standards) like it was recorded with a potato.

Yes, Nixon wanted to cover up the disclosure of tapes during an investigation INTO HIM, a CRIMINAL investigation, and he was deliberately trying to HIDE information.

Again, this is not the same thing as anything that Trump has done so far, not the same thing.

Look, this is important to me: Make no mistake, here, COMEY IS A PIECE OF SHIT. He constantly overstepped the boundaries of his job, ugh, I could list dozens of reasons why he did a bunch of stupid shit, and now he's admitted that he deliberately leaked memos to the press in what appears to be CYA and retribution for his being fired. ANY Democrat now giving Comey accolades at this point is a stupid hypocrite. The guy, himself, interfered in the election process.

But, the ball is in the court of Mueller, Mueller is who really matters at this point; this public "hearing" today is a clusterfuck that is largely useless to the investigation; if it was important, Mueller would have PREVENTED IT FROM OCCURRING in the interest of preserving an investigation.

The ONLY thing we are seeing with the Comey memos and testimony is a career lawyer trying to get more attention for himself (possible future book deal?) and to try to save his own ass. He wrote a bunch of memos but did not once forward them to his boss? Who does that, except if you suspect your own ass is on the line and you want some ammo against people? The original sources during the Memos painted Comey as somebody who wrote memos after nearly every meeting he ever had with anybody, as somebody with a nutty attention to detail. Today, Comey proved that was bullshit, and admitted that he ONLY composed these memos relative to Trump because he thinks Trump is a "liar." Which may be true, but it just shows that Comey didn't trust Hillary Clinton, he didn't trust Loretta Lynch, he didn't trust his boss the AG Jeff Sessions enough to tell him what was going on, he only spins everything to his own perspective to CYA.

[GulDukat]

We will see if Trump is charged with obstruction of justice. It took over two years for Nixon to resign after the Watergate break-in. I'm not saying Trump will or won't be impeached. We have to see where the special prosecutor goes with this, what further developments are, etc. A lot of unknown variables.

[allegro]

We will see if Trump is charged with obstruction of justice. It took over two years for Nixon to resign after the Watergate break-in. I'm not saying Trump will or won't be impeached. We have to see where the special prosecutor goes with this, what further developments are, etc. A lot of unknown variables.

If all we have right now is what we know right now, that's just not anywhere near on the level of obstruction; it's wishful thinking but no trial would ever prove it to be true per the definition of obstruction; and I don't believe that Mueller is even investigating that right now.

We have to remember the timeline of facts related to Nixon.

Nixon HATED the media, and the whole "Watergate" thing started with "The Pentagon Papers." Nixon HATED leaks and HATED the press.

See this:

1971

June 13, 1971: The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers – the Defense Department’s secret history of the Vietnam War. The Washington Post will begin publishing the papers later in the week.

September 9, 1971: The White House “plumbers” unit – named for their orders to plug leaks in the administration – burglarizes a psychiatrist’s office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg, the former defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers.

1972

June 17, 1972: Five men, one of whom says he used to work for the CIA, are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex.

June 19, 1972: A GOP security aide is among the Watergate burglars, The Washington Post reports. Former attorney general John Mitchell, head of the Nixon reelection campaign, denies any link to the operation.

August 1, 1972: A $25,000 cashier’s check, apparently earmarked for the Nixon campaign, wound up in the bank account of a Watergate burglar, The Washington Post reports.

September 29, 1972: John Mitchell, while serving as attorney general, controlled a secret Republican fund used to finance widespread intelligence-gathering operations against the Democrats, The Post reports.

October 10, 1972: FBI agents establish that the Watergate break-in stems from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of the Nixon reelection effort, The Post reports.

November 11, 1972: Nixon is reelected in one of the largest landslides in American political history, taking more than 60 percent of the vote and crushing the Democratic nominee, Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota.

1973

January 30, 1973: Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate incident. Five other men plead guilty, but mysteries remain.

April 30, 1973: Nixon’s top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign over the scandal. White House counsel John Dean is fired.

May 18, 1973: The Senate Watergate committee begins its nationally televised hearings. Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson taps former solicitor general Archibald Cox as the Justice Department’s special prosecutor for Watergate.

June 3, 1973: John Dean has told Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon at least 35 times, The Post reports.

June 13, 1973: Watergate prosecutors find a memo addressed to John Ehrlichman describing in detail the plans to burglarize the office of Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, The Post reports.

July 13, 1973: Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals in congressional testimony that since 1971 Nixon had recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices.

July 18, 1973: Nixon reportedly orders the White House taping system disconnected.

July 23, 1973: Nixon refuses to turn over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate committee or the special prosecutor.

October 20, 1973: Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon fires Archibald Cox and abolishes the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress.

November 17, 1973: Nixon declares, “I’m not a crook,” maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case.

December 7, 1973: The White House can’t explain an 18 1/2 -minute gap in one of the subpoenaed tapes. Chief of staff Alexander Haig says one theory is that “some sinister force” erased the segment.

1974

April 30, 1974: The White House releases more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes to the House Judiciary Committee, but the committee insists that the tapes themselves must be turned over.

July 24, 1974: The Supreme Court rules unanimously that Nixon must turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations, rejecting the president’s claims of executive privilege.

July 27, 1974: House Judiciary Committee passes the first of three articles of impeachment, charging obstruction of justice.

August 8, 1974: Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign. Vice President Gerald R. Ford assumes the country’s highest office. He will later pardon Nixon of all charges related to the Watergate case.

[GulDukat]

And Trump was elected a mere seven months ago, been president for four and a half months. I too have talked to friends about getting ahead of ourselves. I think at this stage it's better not to say anything with any certainly. I would love Trump to be forced out of office, but it won't happen tomorrow.

[allegro]

Yup.

Look at the Lewinsky chronology and the Jones v Clinton chronology.

[Jinsai]

Yes, Nixon wanted to cover up the disclosure of tapes during an investigation INTO HIM, a CRIMINAL investigation, and he was deliberately trying to HIDE information.

Again, this is not the same thing as anything that Trump has done so far, not the same thing.

We have him on live HD 1080p interview with Lester Holt, saying that basically the Russian Collusion inquiry was bumming him out so he fired the director of the FBI! It has him asserting that the claims Comey just made are "completely untrue," so ONE of these two people cannot be a liar.

Cross analyze it with "consistency" on his twitter feed, if we are to regard that as a record of official government statements (though not really, I know).

But you want the biggest clue that this is fucking shattering to Trump and his fleeing support?

Still. No. Twitter. Response.

In his moment of (perhaps) greatest public scrutiny and attention, he didn't respond via his mouthpiece.
Smaller scandalous moments?

Immediate tweets... unhinged tweets...

It's strange that we measure the sanity of our president in this sort of way, but fitting. We've earned it.

[Jinsai]

If all we have right now is what we know right now, that's just not anywhere near on the level of obstruction; it's wishful thinking but no trial would ever prove it to be true per the definition of obstruction; and I don't believe that Mueller is even investigating that right now.

Perhaps no "politician-led trial" in this current climate is likely to move forward. I think that's true.
A normal court removed from this ultimate level of protection that excludes the person in question from immediate prosecution? I think that would have a good chance at running ahead full speed.

I also want to say that your timeline for the Nixon impeachment process is awesome, and puts a lot into perspective. I would offer some counterpoints, regarding how modern technology has shoved the goal posts around a bit here and there, but the nature of that consideration (and the ambiguity it introduces) are beyond my understanding to argue.

Even Huffington Post was leading with an article yesterday that was titled something like "Let's Be Honest, Comey Isn't Going to Fix This"

I read the article and agreed with it.
It lowered my expectations from what would roll out today, which still feels like something I need to keep considering and looking over.

I think the article needs to be re-visited though. This didn't play out today the way I think anybody expected it would. Not completely. It's hard to get past the disappointment I feel towards Harris and McCain, who I truly hoped was going to stand up to his party and push for answers that didn't sound... lost

I had a neutral opinion of Comey before really, but I walked away from this incredibly impressed. Maybe I'm just so used to hearing spin and lies on repeat, it blows my mind to turn on a news network and see someone just say the truth, and even disappoint where a question was begging for sensationalism. I've gained a lot of respect for him.

I did get this strange feeling while watching his expression during his exchange with Harris... I'm reading into it, I know, but there's some flashes there where it just feels like he's saying "JUST ASK ME THE RIGHT GODDAMN QUESTION!" She kept asking him things that ran along the line of "so, this classified information that you can't talk about, would you like to talk about it?"

He was candid and forthcoming, but I got this weird feeling he wanted to say something there, but she kept phrasing the question in a way that made it impossible to answer.

Also, given how I'm just kinda rambling along here, I realize it might seem like I was sarcastic, but no... your time line for the Nixon process is important to keep in mind. Nothing happens overnight, but I don't think anyone was expecting this to be "ok, we'll have Pence (YAY!!!!) in a week!"
No matter how insignificant anyone tries to spin this to be, it's not going away.

[Jinsai]

He is now using his personal lawyer to handle all responses and statements relative to this matter, remember?

His lawyer did a press conference after the hearing. It was really interesting.

Trump isn't asserting that he didn't say he wanted Comey gone due to Russia to Lester Holt; he's saying that a lot of the other stuff that Comey said is untrue, re Comey's characterizations of various things.

Remember, a LOT of Comey's testimony today related to "body language" and Comey's "gut feelings" or and not a whole lot of direct instructions or commands or directions, etc. It's classic hearsay, assumptions, and a whole lot of inadmissible evidence.

He actually IMITATED Jeff Sessions today re how Sessions responded to Comey's asking not to be left alone with Trump again, with this "shrug" motion. And he went into great detail about what it "meant" for Trump to send AG Sessions and others out of the room to only talk with Comey, even though Sessions didn't say "Mr. President, as Jim's boss I think it's important to remain here" or whatever. So, NOBODY bothered telling the President -- not Comey, not the AG, not the Director of Homeland Security, nobody - that the FBI director works under the AG and the DOJ but that unless it's a pre-planned meeting with a pre-specified agenda (e.g. Obama's meeting with Comey about the Justice System in this country), it is highly inappropriate for the President to do that, but Comey does it anyway, and puts in in his "Bag of Memos."

It's like having a boss who keeps calling you "shithead" in meetings and others see it and nobody says one fucking thing about how you can't do that shit.

Which is, like, a bunch of fucking CLOWNS not wiling to act as advisors to the President when they KNOW he's a moron.

So, really, the most Trump is guilty of is being a moron at this point. Seriously.

But... UGH...

Have we reached an impasse? Is Trump truly capable of being "teflon" through spending a lifetime navigating how to do shitty stuff and not face the consequences?

If then, he's.... a moron, yes, but one you can't defeat.
He's the real world internet troll you can't ignore.

Calling him stupid excuses his cluelessness. It makes it "believable" that he could say "Hey, so a lot of people want your job... and, uh, I need loyalty... I expect it... loyalty... also, this Flynn thing, can you make it go away?" and not understand CLEARLY that he's not just a dumb toddler who doesn't get what that means! To hear the right outlets spin this, it's like they're saying "Well, he's a business tycoon, so he didn't know that it wasn't ok to shove around the head of the FBI to get your nagging political issues to go away... that's just how businessmen work."

And it IS how businessmen work.

[allegro]

I had a neutral opinion of Comey before really, but I walked away from this incredibly impressed. Maybe I'm just so used to hearing spin and lies on repeat, it blows my mind to turn on a news network and see someone just say the truth, and even disappoint where a question was begging for sensationalism. I've gained a lot of respect for him.

Ugh, God. This is exactly what he wanted and you fell for it, hook line and sinker.

The bottom line was that Comey UNDER OATH, deliberately VOLUNTEERED his testimony (largely useless) to get himself off the public hook (ultimately, this won't work) to PROMOTE HIMSELF AS A SUPERHERO, and people are falling for this shit.

And what did his testimony include?

THE FACT THAT HE DELIBERATELY LEAKED HIS MEMOS, WHICH HE WROTE IN A WAY TO APPEAR TO BE "UNCLASSIFIED" EVEN THOUGH IT WAS HIS JOB TO KEEP ALL OF THE INFORMATION CLASSIFIED UNDER AN INVESTIGATION, TO TRY TO FORCE THE GOVERNMENT TO HIRE A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

SO NOW COMEY'S TAKING CREDIT FOR THE MUELLER APPOINTMENT, TOO, WHEN WE HAVE ZERO EVIDENCE THAT DEPUTY AG ROSENSTEIN HADN'T ALREADY PLANNED TO HIRE MUELLER WITHOUT COMEY'S MEMO.

He believed that with him gone, any investigation would cease; but in his testimony today, he said that firing the FBI Director would NEVER stop an FBI investigation.

So? HE'S FULL OF SHIT.

I believed Paula Yates' testimony was way more beneficial to the investigation than Comey's. SHE handled herself way better. Trump said he fired Comey due to his "terrible performance" during Comey's prior testimony.

NO ... Trump isn't "Teflon."

He's been in there LESS THAN SIX MONTHS. The investigation into Russian connections to the Trump campaign (which, for several months, even into May, were NOT investigating Trump, directly, this per Comey and per Dianne Feinstein) is less than nine months old.

Wishful thinking doesn't make things real.

Yes, I think Trump gets money from Russia; yes, I think there may be foreign funds having gone to or still going to the Trumps; yes, this would violate the emoluments clause, per most experts: will we find this out in the next few YEARS?? Maybe. But this shit doesn't unfold like CSI crime shows. We are an instant gratification society thinking everything is like the Simpson trial. It's not.

It took Paula Jones SIX FUCKING YEARS to sue Bill Clinton, and it had to go all the way to the SCOTUS to proceed.

[allegro]

Trump is denying the "loyalty" claim and Comey's version re the "loyalty" claim has changed a few times.

it all comes down to the President, as I have said many times already, being ignorant about Government and how it works, and that "loyalty" works in the business world but he can't expect personal or administrative loyalty from the FBI, because the FBI is DELIBERATELY set up to NOT BE LOYAL TO ANY ADMINISTRATION OR PARTY; Trump's own lawyer, today, was an idiot when he said that it's reasonable for an Administration to expect loyalty.

If ANYTHING comes out of this, it's the knowledge that:

1) we should revise ARTICLE II, SECTION 1, CLAUSE 5 of the U.S. Constitution to have a maximum age for Presidential candidates (it already has a minimum, 35 - now it needs a maximum, too) and

2) we need to revise the Constitution to require that Presidents be lawyers. Because here is an example of a moron who doesn't know SHIT about the law or our Constitution and who uses his ignorance as a way to skirt all of it.

[Jinsai]

Ugh, God. This is exactly what he wanted and you fell for it, hook line and sinker.

Well give me some credit in your estimation. He's far from a super hero in my eyes. He's moved up a notch from irritation, if I'm imagining a scale here. And I agree that Yates' testimony was great, but broadly overlooked on a public visibility scale... but we could speculate forever why it isn't having this same impact.

SOMETHING about this moment is very much disturbing the Trump camp. They don't know how to respond. They'll come up with a response, but they don't really have one. They feel the impact of something that you and many others might be missing...

The fact that today, a shit ton of people tuned in to a political inquiry like it was the fucking super bowl, and prayed that he would be impeached.
He can lie about his inauguration crowd numbers, you can't deny that there was something kind of unique that just happened that wasn't "fake news"...

I don't think even Trump can. He might just be realizing, for the first time, that people actually don't like him.

EDIT: I didn't see a response from Trump about the loyalty claim. Time to dive back in...

[allegro]

EDIT: I didn't see a response from Trump about the loyalty claim. Time to dive back in...

Did you watch the press conference by Marc Kasowitz, Trump's private attorney?

[Jinsai]

Did you watch the press conference by Marc Kasowitz, Trump's private attorney?

OH my god... I can't take it. I need a break. He's just mis-contextizing statements and cherry picking... I need a minute.

[allegro]

Wanna see something really hilarious?

Read this about Marc Kasowitz.

[allegro]

OH my god... I can't take it. I need a break. He's just mis-contextizing statements and cherry picking... I need a minute.

But, that's how law works; Comey used that same cherry-picking to his benefit, using things like body language, inference, gut feelings, typical procedure vs. atypical procedure, and a whole lot of other shit that would be deemed to be just that in a legal investigation: Shit.

Look at it this way: Comey using the same types of "evidence" (LOL) against Hillary Clinton would make the people in this forum go fucking apeshit.

Notice the huge missing person in this testimony today? MUELLER.

Because this isn't part of his investigation and, really, HIS investigation is the real investigation.

this thing today is a dog and pony show.

[allegro]

Yesterday's testimony of Coats, Rosenstein and McCabe:




Dan Coats: Current Director of National Intelligence

Andrew McCabe: Acting Director of the FBI

Rod Rosenstein: Deputy Attorney General of the U.S. (and Acting AG relative to these investigations)

[allegro]

OH my god... I can't take it. I need a break. He's just mis-contextizing statements and cherry picking... I need a minute.

Viewing this all from the perspective of Comey's testimony today, as if that and he is somehow the sole focal point (which is what Comey loves), the TRUE smoking gun requiring further investigation is (IMHO) STILL Sally Yates' testimony.

SEE THIS from May 8th

[Jinsai]

I posted a shorter segment of the video w/ Coats somewhere before Comeybowl

Silence on this sort of level won't be tolerated for long. That was too dramatic to stay a cliffhanger. 2017, American Politics Apprentice

but it'll go somewhere... The ball will get rolling and people will fold.

[Jinsai]

I read the first paragraph of this, and in my head, I actually wondered what it sounds like when @allegro says, out loud, "OH FUCK THIS"

[Louie_Cypher]

Ugh, God. This is exactly what he wanted and you fell for it, hook line and sinker.

The bottom line was that Comey UNDER OATH, deliberately VOLUNTEERED his testimony (largely useless) to get himself off the public hook (ultimately, this won't work) to PROMOTE HIMSELF AS A SUPERHERO, and people are falling for this shit.

And what did his testimony include?

THE FACT THAT HE DELIBERATELY LEAKED HIS MEMOS, WHICH HE WROTE IN A WAY TO APPEAR TO BE "UNCLASSIFIED" EVEN THOUGH IT WAS HIS JOB TO KEEP ALL OF THE INFORMATION CLASSIFIED UNDER AN INVESTIGATION, TO TRY TO FORCE THE GOVERNMENT TO HIRE A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

SO NOW COMEY'S TAKING CREDIT FOR THE MUELLER APPOINTMENT, TOO, WHEN WE HAVE ZERO EVIDENCE THAT DEPUTY AG ROSENSTEIN HADN'T ALREADY PLANNED TO HIRE MUELLER WITHOUT COMEY'S MEMO.

He believed that with him gone, any investigation would cease; but in his testimony today, he said that firing the FBI Director would NEVER stop an FBI investigation.

So? HE'S FULL OF SHIT.

I believed Paula Yates' testimony was way more beneficial to the investigation than Comey's. SHE handled herself way better. Trump said he fired Comey due to his "terrible performance" during Comey's prior testimony.

NO ... Trump isn't "Teflon."

He's been in there LESS THAN SIX MONTHS. The investigation into Russian connections to the Trump campaign (which, for several months, even into May, were NOT investigating Trump, directly, this per Comey and per Dianne Feinstein) is less than nine months old.

Wishful thinking doesn't make things real.

Yes, I think Trump gets money from Russia; yes, I think there may be foreign funds having gone to or still going to the Trumps; yes, this would violate the emoluments clause, per most experts: will we find this out in the next few YEARS?? Maybe. But this shit doesn't unfold like CSI crime shows. We are an instant gratification society thinking everything is like the Simpson trial. It's not.

It took Paula Jones SIX FUCKING YEARS to sue Bill Clinton, and it had to go all the way to the SCOTUS to proceed.

does under oath apply if your an Aithiest, if i swear to a god I don't believe in does that count? I'm team Comey, I can say that I've worked, with theses folks, (san bernardino), which was a huge, test, on my ethics, faith,choice, of profession, the fed's were nothing, but understanding, this was after the stoke i felt, privileged, to be called upon, privacy, vs. freedom I still question?much like belief in god, but I'm on my way to meet her
-Louie

[Jinsai]

does under oath apply if your an Aithiest, if i swear to a god I don't believe in does that count? I'm team Comey, I can say that I've worked, with theses folks, (san bernardino), which was a huge, test, on my ethics, faith,choice, of profession, the fed's were nothing, but understanding, this was after the stoke i felt, privileged, to be called upon, privacy, vs. freedom I still question?much like belief in god, but I'm on my way to meet her
-Louie

Yes. The religious affiliation is just "there" now... actually, who knows, in some states you still can't run for public office if you're an atheist, so who knows

[hellospaceboy]

Trump said he fired Comey due to his "terrible performance" during Comey's prior testimony.

To be fair, Trump caused all the questions about his reasoning... as Comey said in his testimony, the president can fire the FBI director without giving a reason... yet Trump said in an interview, on tape, that he had the Russia investigation in mind when he made the decision.
I know, they gave several "official" reasons, but Russia being one means real trouble for Trump, because it plays into the narrative that he was/is trying to obstruct the investigation.

And he (allegedly) bragged about the firing "easing the pressure" a few days after that!!!

[hellospaceboy]

One question nobody seems to ask: who else did Trump ask to take the loyalty oath?! I'm sure it wasn't exclusive to Comey!

I guarantee you that Paul Ryan could keep his job because he took the loyalty pledge, and so on... all the GOP politicians who were hesitant to support him during the campaign... Loyalty to Trump instead of the country.

[hellospaceboy]

^^^
This is really fascinating!

[allegro]

I read the first paragraph of this, and in my head, I actually wondered what it sounds like when @allegro says, out loud, "OH FUCK THIS"

That's a great article!

This was my favorite part of #ComeyDay, "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.f54d3624bc00

[theimage13]

All in all, this testimony was exactly what I thought it would be...no big deal.

I mean, was there any new information gleaned from this? Any concrete evidence of criminal activity?

No? It was all just re-hashing the same he said/she said and speculation that we've been hearing for months?

Cool. So the world keeps turning, the president remains safe from impeachment, and everyone remains angry but unable to do anything. Gotcha.

[hellospaceboy]

I mean, was there any new information gleaned from this? Any concrete evidence of criminal activity?

The only new development is that many things that were reported in the media were confirmed by the former director of the FBI under oath.