US Politics December 2018: ~very legal and very cool~

Listening back through episodes of Mueller she wrote talking about cases coming against Whittaker about legitimacy of role. Has anything come of that or does it get sidestepped by nomination of Barr who himself seems problematic.

Woof. That seems like ... the wrong way to counter the special counsel.

xpost

Not for the first time, the behavior of people in this administration and in its orbit reminds me of Rhodes wasting his last breath on a vituperative 'CHOKE ON EM! CHOKE ON EM!' while he's being ripped apart by the living dead.

on tax returns?

That's the implication, yes.

gotta say "Twitter is biased for deleting all my Russian bot followers" is my favorite genre of chud-tweet

Facebook, Twitter and Google are so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous! Twitter, in fact, has made it much more difficult for people to join @realDonaldTrump. They have removed many names & greatly slowed the level and speed of increase. They have acknowledged-done NOTHING!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2018

It's a long list with many strong contenders, but few things make me want to give Trump a megaswirlie quite as much as his whining about Twitter's obvious bias against him. Although I suppose it's in keeping with his tendency of eventually turning on every ally he's ever had.

love when i lose aobut 100 followers immediately after making a beautiful post. the weak shriveling up into dust. Thats called darwin

— wint (@dril) January 23, 2018

donald trump is the mirror-universe dril

"White House says it wants to avoid government shutdown, will find other ways to fund border wall"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-signals-its-backing-down-in-shutdown-dispute-will-find-other-ways-to-fund-border-wall/2018/12/18/159994dc-02d9-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html?utm_term=.64eac33544f8

I'm sure Trump is trashing the Oval Office right now.

"God DAMN it, you're all against me! YOU! Secret Service! Kill yourself right now to prove you're an American!"

Test

Also:

President Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity and give away its remaining funds amid allegations that he used it for his personal and political benefit, the New York attorney general announced Tuesday.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced that the Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as her office pursues its lawsuit against the charity, Trump and his three eldest children.

good morning1

Lol

he really is facing unprecedented legal "exposure" for a president right now, on so many different fronts. it feels like at any moment the house of cards could come down. but yet, we will continue like this for months and months to come.

I assume dissolving the “charity” doesnt stop the lawsuit from moving forward...?

Jerome Corsi blocked me on Twitter :(

Yeah, I don't think it works like that. If you're caught doing something criminal and stop doing that criminal thing, it's not like it wipes the slate clean.

xpost

Yeah, it's like that time I used that shell company to launder money for years and then quickly shut it down when it seemed like the authorities were starting to catch on and yet I'm still currently posting from federal prison. So unfair!

I stopped doing it, guys! I stopped!

Can Trump be dissolved next?

if you dissolve a company, then technically nothing that company did ever happened, that's the law iirc

The phrase "impotent rage" comes to mind...

The settlement with Underwood’s office represents a concession by Trump to a state investigation he decried as a partisan attack. The case is one of numerous legal inquiries into Trump organizations that have proliferated during his White House tenure.

"Settlement" implies the matter will be closed...?

Yeah idgi

A good day to be David Fahrenthold.

Is the settlement that he has to shut it down and pay penalties and admit guilt?

They are demanding 2.8 million, penalties, and none of the Trump family can serve on any other New York boards.

by the way, autocorrect tried to change family can serve to family cancer, which would have worked even better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-agrees-to-shut-down-his-charity-amid-allegations-he-used-it-for-personal-and-political-benefit/2018/12/18/dd3f5030-021b-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2160579457e9

The largest donation in the foundation’s history — a $264,231 gift to the Central Park Conservancy in 1989 — appeared to benefit Trump’s business: it paid to restore a fountain outside Trump’s Plaza Hotel. The smallest, a $7 foundation gift to the Boy Scouts that same year, appeared to benefit Trump’s family. It matched the amount required to enroll a boy in the Scouts the year that his son Donald Trump Jr. was 11.

imagine the grift infiltrating every single aspect of your daily life

it’s easy if you try

*waits for renato mariotti to tell us what this means*

*Mariotti instead shills his podcast where it will be discussed ~1h50m in*

Man oh man, the Flynn sentencing is hilarious.

Judge essentially forces Flynn to admit in court that he's claiming no misconduct, that he was aware lying to the FBI was a crime, then this

Judge Sullivan: Is Mr. Flynn still cooperating?

Gov: It “remains a possibility” that he’s still cooperating.

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018

Gov says the decision to proceed to sentencing is based on the totality of Flynn's assistance. Has already provided “vast majority” of his potential cooperation. Highlights indictment unsealed yesterday against Flynn’s business partner.

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan: So Flynn could’ve also been charged in that indictment unsealed in Virginia yesterday, right? Gov: Yes.

Judge Sullivan: “Exposure to Mr. Flynn would have been significant?” Gov: Yes.

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan: “I’m not hiding my disgust, my distain for this criminal offense.”

Says he can’t guarantee he’s going to avoid incarceration. Gives Flynn yet another opportunity to speak with his lawyers.

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018

he's pretty fucked but I'm sure the OSC is anxious about their key witness being fuckin pissed at them for this whole thing blowing up. in spite of the fact that flynn is there for, you know, crimes. many crimes.

What this all really feels like is the unwinding of a pyramid scheme, the last days of Bernie Madoff. Not just the foundation but everything, he got away with so many things for so long it's like he forgot he was actually a con man.

xpost -- not unrelated, I think.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-ready-to-pounce-on-trumpworld-concessions-to-moscow

Whomp whomp

FLYNN LAWYER NOW SEEKS TO DELAY SENTENCING.

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018

This:

BREAKING: Flynn's attorneys say they are now taking the judge up on his offer to delay today's sentencing because he's still cooperating with prosecutors.

— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

...makes sense given other commentary I've seen, plus an observation from the SCO prosecutor earlier.

Wants a sentencing delay to get the "last modicum" of cooperation benefit from EDVA case.

— Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) December 18, 2018

Flynn's lawyers hearing the judge loud and clear, scrambling for way out.https://t.co/tOSb7yOldP

— BigCrimeHat (@Popehat) December 18, 2018

A status report on whether Flynn is ready for sentencing will be due by March 13 at noon

— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 18, 2018

Works to Mueller's advantage, right? Flynn's gonna need to cooperate and cooperate and cooperate, or he's looking down the barrel of an angry judge.

Pretty much, yes. Also, the attempt to claim misconduct/manipulation is now a played card and taken back in court. Further thoughts:

Re Flynn's delay: Note Kelner just took responsibility for that clear fuck-up on claiming he wasn't warned about lying. One reason Flynn wanted sentencing now was so he could go back to sleazy influence peddling so he could pay his legal fees.

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) December 18, 2018

It's not clear what Flynn stands to gain delaying sentencing -- it's not even clear EDVA *wants* him to testify in that case.

It's POSSIBLE however, he has something else he thinks he can give Mueller.

Or, maybe they just figure a stall might delay long enough for pardon.

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) December 18, 2018

I seriously hope that this train wreck wasn't a complete surprise to General Flynn -- that SOMEBODY warned him that it might go this way, and that the signs were that the judge was mad. A client getting blindsided because nobody told him the truth is unacceptable.

— BigCrimeHat (@Popehat) December 18, 2018

If you're caught doing something criminal and stop doing that criminal thing, it's not like it wipes the slate clean.

Prosecutors have a lot of latitude for wiping slates clean and they use it in widely varying ways and for varying reasons, including their perception of the politics involved.

Can Trump be dissolved next?