US Politics February 2019: This is one of the great losers of all time.

That's right, I forget there were a couple of waves of convictions, right? Everything from tax evasion to campaign violations to some Russia stuff.

The trump circle was just all criminals of some kind. I imagine trump has done stuff at least as illegal as cohen and manafort re taxes and finances but who knows. I mean, cohen testified today that trump has.

It’s so gross that the gop protects trump while calling cohen a liar. If you are fine with trump it means you have no problem with lying. Be consistent in your nihilism.

Especially when they use the term “pathological liar.” Like... cohen was a slimy criminal but trump is the one that lies nonstop even when he doesn’t have to.

aren't nihilism and consistency sort of opposed?

Guess so

Okay I'm catching up on the Matthew Calamari thing and good grief.

I know a lot of you are only just now learning about Matthew Calamari, so here is his incredible appearance on the live finale of The Apprentice season two in 2004 pic.twitter.com/Ci0qF8kkgj

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) February 27, 2019

That's it. I am changing my name to Carey Bucatini.

Watching that is really uncomfortable for the utter disrespect that Jen(?) got.

For those intrigued by the reference -- "Matthew Calamari, the organization’s chief operating officer, was recruited in 1981 after Mr. Trump saw him eject some hecklers while working security at the United States Open tennis tournament."https://t.co/TGSs7yNKXV

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 27, 2019

i'm curious how we reconcile two strands of Cohen's testimony:

1. Grifter's campaign was an infomercial for his "brand" -- he never intended to win (I always believed this)

2. There were daily nefarious efforts (subsequently denied in toto) to sabotage HRC's campaign, collude with the Russians, coordinate with Wikileaks, etc.

If they weren't trying to win, were they just trying to make it close?

Am I alone in appreciating the way Cummings ran proceedings today? He kept his eyes on the big picture and was assertive when necessary, while also displaying sensitivity and respect towards each participant in the room. Committee chairs don't often pull all of that off. I was impressed.

xpost, i assumed number 2 was because they enjoy being little bitches/it makes for good tv/putin was freelance project managing.

I never thought he wanted to win, and never saw that as a contradiction. (I'll never forget the frozen, terrified look on Trump's face as he strolled out to declare victory that morning.) I just thought that because, deep-down, he assumed he had zero chance, that became his license to do and say whatever crazy thing occurred to him moment to moment. (I'm sure most of the people around him were trying to win.)

(Right, the same way Jerry's Kids worked, um, tirelessy, to finish the Fyre Festival.)

"If they weren't trying to win, were they just trying to make it close?

they were trying to win, but weren't expecting to win

Trump wanted to win but didn't want to be president.

That's a good way to put it too. He wanted one never-ending campaign rally.

I hired Matthew Calamari when I saw him beating people up at NY Open in 1981. He quickly rose to become the Chief Beating People Up Officer at the whole Trump Organization! #CohenHearing pic.twitter.com/XzAfPxsqpY

— Donald J. Drumpf (@RealDonalDrumpf) February 27, 2019

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/02/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-michael-cohen-trump-taxes.html

is this true (aoc asked canny questions that help establish a reason for the house to subpoena TAX RETURNS) or is it just slate-ery

makes sense to me and WNYC talkers said same

not to fangirl but AOC did have the most impressive line of questioning with no fluff. I hate the back patting/mundane small talk they make during these things.

i'm curious how we reconcile two strands of Cohen's testimony:

1. Grifter's campaign was an infomercial for his "brand" -- he never intended to win (I always believed this)

2. There were daily nefarious efforts (subsequently denied in toto) to sabotage HRC's campaign, collude with the Russians, coordinate with Wikileaks, etc.

If they weren't trying to win, were they just trying to make it close?

i think that's a good question. the way i've always thought of it is that is that what was important to trump was 1), and part of that was his desire to build a tower in Moscow. he had financial incentives to build a tower in Moscow, too. but what was in it for Putin, then? Putin knew that regardless of the election's result, he could score a victory by playing a major role in Trump's campaign.

if Trump won (which seemed unlikely to say the least), we'd get the current hellscape we're currently in, reducing US power worldwide and opening up opportunities for everyone else to take advantage. plus he had/has leverage over trump to push him to try to dissolve NATO and fracture longstanding post-WW2 alliances.

if Trump lost, Putin could still score a victory. even if it became known and accepted that russia meddled in the election, republicans would be unlikely to embrace that story and would fight back against it. and they'd probably be talking about the EMAILS and benghazi and the DNC wikileaks stuff. perhaps the big overwhelming under President H. Clinton would be a big fight about russia's role in the election - what if a democratic administration tried to prosecute the trump campaign, for example? it would be a shitshow. and if they didn't try to prosecute an obviously guilty trump campaign, even more of a shitshow. less of a shitshow than our current timeline, but still an awful 4 years.

that (potentially) explains putin's interest, regardless of whether or not trump won. but why would trump make such an effort to do all of these things if he didn't even really want to win? i'd guess because he was most concerned about demonstrating to putin that he was really trying (so that he could get his precious tower in moscow), and that he didn't really think he'd win anyway, even if he did cheat. also the pee tape

The important question: would a President Clinton have had a Democratic Senate, and for long?

xp AOC’s “lightning round” questioning of Shaub, Mehrbani, and Hobert Flynn earlier this month in an ethics hearing was also amazing

The election was pro wrestling. You gotta dig deep and give your heel turn everything you got because it's great for ratings and winning at all costs is crucial, but...c'mon, it's not like you're gonna actually win anything real.

Calamari looks like every college defensive line coach blended together.

Pauli Trofie
Dominic Panettone
Gianni Amatriciana
Angelo Scungili
Al Fusilli

Anthony Scaramucci

Joey Manicotti

Nunzia Chittara

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGBeTpUxoEc

Speier revealing the dangers of asking about something she has no idea about.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, February 27, 2019 10:49 AM (eight hours ago)

I loved Jackie Speier’s questioning of Cohen today! Besides the fact that her questions revealed a lot of the backstage drama of the Trump world (free condos offered by Felix Sater, “catch and kill” intent to suppress an ‘elevator tape’, David Pecker paying off someone about a lovechild, Trump asking Cohen to threaten people ~500 times!) she importantly got him to acknowledge that Jay Sekulow and Abbe Long edited Cohen’s statement to congress about the timing of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations (I don’t know how that is not a crime). And she provoked the only slightly moving moment of the entire testimony by getting him to address his children directly

*sorry, Abbe Lowell

Jackie Speier is the shit. She's a great congresswoman, has an amazing life story, has diligently worked for her constituents without grandstanding or using the position as a stepping stone to something else. She's a perfect argument against term limits.

^yes

that (potentially) explains putin's interest, regardless of whether or not trump won. but why would trump make such an effort to do all of these things if he didn't even really want to win? i'd guess because he was most concerned about demonstrating to putin that he was really trying (so that he could get his precious tower in moscow), and that he didn't really think he'd win anyway, even if he did cheat. also the pee tape

also: Trump is fundamentally dumb as shit, and incapable of either thinking two steps ahead or acting in his own best interests

If he smells easy money in it, he's plenty alert to how he can improve his chances of grabbing the cash.

... that makes him smart.

I remember one of Putin's first comments about a Trump gaffe, "He is acting according to his competence", which is as fine a jab at this grenade Russia lobbed at the West as any.

xpost She's great, she was just barking up the wrong tree at first.

I admit I think very often about how bragging on live television about committing tax fraud apparently makes you immune from prosecution in the US.

Whomp whomp

I’ve personally apologized to @MichaelCohen212 4 referencing his private family in the public square. Regardless of disagreements, family members should be off-limits from attacks from representatives, senators & presidents, including myself. Let’s leave the Cohen family alone.

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 28, 2019

“let’s get off mothers...”

stocking up popcorn for this guy’s disbarment. handsome!

in the same way I want Bezos to prevail against blackmailers but otherwise have every penny taken & dispersed to social programs by antitrust investigators, I hope Cohen does not accept this apology at all, let alone if that will affect potential proceedings against Gaetz

"Matt is acting according to his competence"

I’ve personally apologized to @MichaelCohen212 4 referencing his private family in the public square. Regardless of disagreements, family members should be off-limits from attacks from representatives, senators & presidents, including myself. Let’s leave the Cohen family alone.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 28, 2019

you can feel the flop sweat.

Something really significant just happened in Vietnam. The Trump-Kim lunch and signing ceremony appear to have been abruptly cancelled. https://t.co/rgQwoJIMqo

— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) February 28, 2019

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