Genius prank HH!. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/26/trump-fake-presidential-seal-charles-leazott
Check mate. https://twitter.com/paulbennison/status/1157252854379425793?s=21 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1157083194640019458?s=21 The second one is a particular highlight.
I can only assume that an awful lot of 'people' are breathing a sigh of relief that this shitbag won't be getting his day in court.
He knew what he had to do. Will be interesting to follow the $$ to those who facilitated his escape from justice.
I’d be happy for him to be extradited in return for a trade deal. It would certainly be a bigger contribution than he ever made as trade envoy.
All of the people I've ever known who've had contact or dealt with the royal family (ex-forces, cops, diplomatic service etc.) are extremely circumspect about what they say about them - except those whose paths have crossed with Andrew's. Universally everyone describes him either as an oaf or a really nasty piece of work.
Sadly, Epstein’s suicide will probably let a bunch of rich kiddie fiddlers get away with it. Extremely disappointing.
Trump's continual 'riffing' on receiving "...Michigan's Man of the Year Award..." should be raising eyebrows? An award he couldn't possible have received as it, errrr, doesn't (and hasn't ever) exist(ed)?
"Prince Andrew 'appalled' by Jeffrey Epstein's sex abuse claims". I wonder where this is all going to lead? I don't think they can 'do' Epstein (as 'we' did * la Saville) but can/will the US investigate Epstein's 'harsh punishment for the, quite serious, offences he was originally 'done' for? Don't quite a few in Trump's administration have their fingerprints over the original sentence handed out?
If ever things get too much in this country, Trump always provides material to astound and amaze: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/do...-hurricane-map-look-different-others-n1049711 It's not the scientific ignorance or lies that get me, it's his pathological need to be proven right.
It's a mark of how bat **** insane this administration is that it's barely even registering over here compared to his usual stupidity. This would have been a massive scandal under Obama (it's a crime to provide false information via federal channels), but no one is blinking an eye with Trump. The man is a textbook narcissist.
So warmongering John Bolton has been fired. Liz Truss secretly crying now....not first in line for a trade deal.
Blimey, some interesting events while I was sleeping. Washington Post article: Click here. The gist of it: an intelligence community whistleblower went to the inspector general for the intelligence community (ICIG) with a concern about Trump offering to do something for a foreign power in violation of US interests for a personal gain. This is likely based off transcripts of a phone call (all official US communication with foreign powers is monitored). The ICIG was alarmed and escalated. The (Acting) Director of National Intelligence (appointed by and reporting to Trump) overruled him, trying to stop things going any further. The ICIG then went directly to Congress. The obvious implication of his behavior is that something blatantly wrong went on. What's interesting about this story is that the White House has directly attempted to suppress this investigation and has instructed personnel to violate the law to attempt to prevent the whistleblower from going public with his concerns. It goes without saying that the ICIG going around the DNI and directly to Congress is extremely abnormal. On top of this, it isn't just someone loosely tied to Trump; the whistleblower is reported to have explicitly mentioned Trump by name. This is going to get really interesting over the coming days... EDIT: saw an excellent new humorous nickname for Trump this morning: Mango Mussolini.
Rumour now that it's to do with Ukraine. And, simultaneously, stories also kicking up about Trump's cronies making overtures to Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden. The two having been explicitly linked but I think the hints are close enough.
Pelosi moving to start impeachment prceedings shortly. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/tr...nce-formal-impeachment-inquiry-trump-n1058251
Looks like Moscow Mitch is done protecting him. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate...ng-trump-officials-to-hand-over-whistleblower
Aren't they just trying to see what the complaint is? Trevor really hit the nail on the head at the end of last night's piece:
Taken from a further article in The Hill... Senate Republicans are vowing to quickly quash any articles of impeachment that pass the House and warn that Democrats will feel a political backlash if they go forward and impeach President Trump. Republican senators say there are no grounds to impeach Trump and are daring Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to embark on what they dismiss as a fool’s errand that will turn off swing voters. “My response to them is go hard or go home,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over impeachment. “If you want to impeach him, stop talking. Do it. Do it. Go to Amazon, buy a spine and do it. And let’s get after it.”
This will rally their base, and enthuse the progressives, but I really can't see it being an electoral masterstroke. And obviously it's going no where in the Senate.
If you're only doing something because it's politically convenient, it just makes you another sleazy politician. There's no point in having checks and balances if people only use them when it's advantageous. I'll also point out that Clinton was impeached and it didn't do the Republicans any harm as far as their electoral prospects went, although I don't think that should be a consideration.
I think your first para would be spot on in an ideal world. But lets face facts - no politician or political party does anything these days unless it's politically convenient. Obviously there's something doing the rounds in Democratic leadership circles (internal polling, a longer term strategy relating to not splitting the party or just gut feeling) which means Pelosi and co have decided to go now on impeachment. They'll obviously be hoping to make capital of what happens after it goes to the Senate and dies in a day. They'll shout he's a President his own party refuses to control even though most are on the record in the past warning what will happen if he got their nomination. I'm just not sure it won't make some independents feel sorry for him. It doesn't mean they'll vote for him but it might turn them off the whole **** show. The Clinton impeachment and subsequent acquittal was as partisan as they come, so at least the Dems can use that as cover when they take flak from the GOP on this one. Incidentally, following on from our back and forth on the other thread last night, I see Trump's promise for full disclosure of the Ukraine telephone call has already turned out to be cobblers. Shock horror. An edited part-transcript, part summary note has been circulated. And AG Barr has distanced himself from it like a rat fleeing a sinking ship after Trump named him in the call.
Full transcript of the call has issued (unless it is a fake). From a lay person's point of view it smacks of "meh" on the foreign influence issue, but it certainly seems to be an explicit attempt to get the President of Ukraine to get some dirt on an opponent. The transcript itself is utterly embarrassing and cringe worthy in terms of the sycophantic blather between the two of them. Ukrainian President will be livid that this transcript was released. He was not too complimentary of his neighbours in Europe.
