Trump, May 2017: 100 days of [unintelligible]

That's me!

"We'll be TOGEEEEEEEETHER."

Washington FBI office says investigation incl raid of GOP fundraising firm in Annapolis being done w/ “fierce coordination”

— Jayne Miller (@jemillerwbal) May 11, 2017

I hope they meant drag-style fierce.

https://media.tenor.co/images/893084fa2350f5bfe2d3e543e3d5f310/tenor.gif

I feel like the fbi is extremely pissed at this point, especially after trump was on tv calling comey a "showboat"

Guys, he's working hard, you know.

Yesterday, on the same day- I had meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the FM of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin.#LetsMakePeace! pic.twitter.com/SPiIrJqI6G

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2017

#LetsMakePizza

Apparently Trump has been dissuaded from his plan to give one of his masturbatory speeches at FBI headquarters tomorrow, because he could not be guaranteed a positive reception.

Phil, stop, OK? He's past that. He's taking photos with Russian and Ukrainian men.

lets just have my friends the russians take all of the crimea and put this silly misunderstanding behind us! peace!

As much as I want to believe this FBI raid is Russia related its easier to assume its about this:

Rogers said agents appeared interested in his firm’s work on former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli’s 2013 gubernatorial campaign. Cuccinelli (R) sued the Strategic Campaign Group and the Conservative Strike Force in 2014, alleging they raised almost $2.2 million to support his campaign but steered little of that money to him.

http://wapo.st/2pDmw2l

Entirely possible!

reminder that trump's signature inverted looks like a black metal logo

https://i.imgur.com/gCUK9h7.jpg

come try my helmet on

In Russia Pictures Take YOU!!!

Trump to NBC: "When I decided to [fire Comey], I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story."

— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) May 11, 2017

In response

this is like one of those cop shows where they trick a guy into confessing except the guy is so dumb they don't really need to do anything https://t.co/1wMUhVGRKi

— John Tabin (@johntabin) May 11, 2017

In the meantime, Ann has despaired

Today's BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: Miles completed yesterday-- Zero; Miles completed since Inauguration--Zero. NEXT UPDATE TOMORROW.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 11, 2017

So, he is, then:

Is Spicer being fired? "Oh my god, for the billionth time no,” White House official tells @Carrasquillo https://t.co/GYCrW0Beum

— Jon Passantino (@passantino) May 11, 2017

One aspect of the firing I don't get: are Presidents allowed to fire people like Comey for things that happened under a previous administration?

No rationale is required.

He can fire him for whatever he likes, or no reason.

in the past it never really came up because the idea that a President would transparently fire a sitting FBI Director in order to stymie an ongoing investigation was assumed to be something only an idiot would do

when Clinton fired his director, at least the dude was corrupt af

the only penalty is violating a norm and we're way the fuck past those

One reason he may not be able to fire is if it is explicitly done to obstruct an ongoing investigation of which the president is a target.

That just happened.

yes, it is quite possibly an obstruction of justice and it seems like he has unwittingly admitted to it

Omg that would be amazing to nail him on a thing like that

comrade combover is starting to lose town hall. town hall!

https://townhall.com/columnists/stevechapman/2017/05/11/trump-makes-himself-look-guilty-n2325022

This constant firing befuddles me as well. Do the people fired *for no particular, lawful reason* not get a sack of cash out on the way? Are there no rights for employees whatsoever? In The Netherlands it couldn't be done; not without the fire-ee leaving with a boatload of cash toughly negotiated in court. But we're prob a marxist country compared to the usa by this point (good luck etc).

this "i asked him if i was under investigation and he said no" thing is "if you're a copy you have to tell me" level smart

*cop

im not a cawp!!!!

tbf he does seem to have invented the phrase "roll up our butts."

You can tell he invented it because it makes no goddamn sense

Like if "roll up our sleeves" and "get off our butts" had a kid.

yes, it is quite possibly an obstruction of justice and it seems like he has unwittingly admitted to it

― Moodles

Omg that would be amazing to nail him on a thing like that

― Treeship

Except the prosecutors would have to be the House of Representatives and the jury would be the Senate, so the obstruction of justice would have to be so blatant and the confession so unmistakable that the whole country is in an uproar over it.

nothing's happening unless the Dems retake the Hill

I was going to make fun of how strange and unprepared to be photographed she appears to be, but then I thought what if she's a cancer patient... She's probably like some famous pro-life evangelical figurehead

That's Jenny Wendt, rape victim whose confessed perpetrator got off due to statute of limitations issues.

Trump to NBC: "When I decided to [fire Comey], I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story."

Which tips off the world that the Russia investigation was clearly coupled in Trump's mind with the question of whether to fire Comey and Comey's refusal to treat it as a 'made up story' counted against his staying on the job. This is a highly suggestive train of thought, but still not a flat out confession. Our president is, though, quite clearly a huge prat*.

*prat, noun, British slang, an incompetent, stupid, or foolish person; an idiot.

yeah btw for the nth time can we stop the practice of, given some random picture that has a woman in it, making the conversation about thinking of high-larious ways to describe her appearance?

When I decided to (fire Comey), I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story."

Okay. So someone at the FBI is investigating a "made up story." There is a lot of anecdotal evidence behind the story, but nothing is proven conclusively... yet.

The FBI staffer is pressured by his superiors to drop his investigation of said "made up story." He faces ever-increasing institutional pressure to avoid continuing the investigation. And yet, the truth is out there. Sounds comfortingly familiar.

this the Internet, man

xp

The showboat fires back: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/us/politics/trump-comey-firing.html

Doctor Casino otm.

just curious -- has there been any coherent rationale offered by the white house (beyond the bullshit 'peace and love' tweet) for meeting with representatives of a government our intelligence agencies unanimously allege hacked our election?

Have they ever had a coherent rationale?

Wouldn't you rather have a good relationship with Russia rather than a bad one?

That's the rationale.

And in a magical vacuum where all else really is equal, yes

Closed-door Russia visit is so so painfully close to the SNL skit with Putin insisting he keep generous great state Russian gift of "Elf On A Shelf" conveniently close to the Oval Office wi-fi router.

At the dinner described by Mr. Trump in his interview with NBC, the conversation with Mr. Comey was quite different. Mr. Trump told NBC that Mr. Comey requested it to ask to keep his job. Mr. Trump said he asked the F.B.I. director if he was under investigation, a question that legal experts called highly unusual if not improper. In Mr. Trump’s telling, Mr. Comey reassured him that he was not.

So trump wants us to believe comey scheduled a meeting to beg to keep his job, even though he had no reason to suspect his term would be interrrupted. Sounds legit