If Donald Trump told Michael Cohen to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels about a one-night stand a decade ago, that, says Jerome Nadler, incoming chair of House Judiciary, would be an “impeachable offense.”
This tells you what social media, cable TV and the great herd of talking heads will be consumed with for the next two years — the peccadillos and misdeeds of Trump, almost all of which occurred before being chosen as president of the United States.
“Everywhere President Trump looks,” writes The Washington Times’ Rowan Scarborough, “there are Democrats targeting him from New York to Washington to Maryland… lawmakers, state attorneys general, opposition researchers, bureaucrats and activist defense lawyers.
“They are aiming at Russia collusion, the Trump Organization, the Trump Foundation, a Trump hotel, Trump tax returns, Trump campaign finances and supposed money laundering.”
The full-court press is on. Day and night we will be hearing debate on the great question: Will the elites that loathe him succeed in bringing Trump down, driving him from office, and prosecuting and putting him in jail?
Says Adam Schiff, the incoming chair of the House intelligence committee: “Donald Trump may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time.”
And what will a watching world be thinking when it sees the once-great republic preoccupied with breaking yet another president?
Will that world think: Why can’t we be more like America?
Does the world still envy us our free press, which it sees tirelessly digging up dirt on political figures and flaying them with abandon?
Among the reasons democracy is in discredit and retreat worldwide is that its exemplar and champion, the USA, is beginning to resemble France’s Third Republic in its last days before World War II.
Also, democracy no longer has the field largely to itself as to how to create a prosperous and powerful nation-state.
This century, China has shown aspiring rulers how a single-party regime can create a world power, and how democracy is not a necessary precondition for extraordinary economic progress.
Vladimir Putin, an autocratic nationalist, has shown how a ruined nation can be restored to a great power in the eyes of its people and the world, commanding a new deference and respect.
Democracy is a bus you get off when it reaches your stop, says Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After the attempted coup in the summer of 2017, Erdogan purged his government and military of tens of thousands of enemies and jailed more journalists than any other nation.
Yet he is welcomed in the capitals of the world.
What does American democracy now offer the world as its foremost attribute, its claim to greatness?
“Our diversity is our strength!” proclaims this generation.
We have become a unique nation composed of peoples from every continent and country, every race, ethnicity, culture and creed on earth.
But is not diversity what Europe is openly fleeing from?
One thing is for certain; the Russians are giggling and rubbing their hands together watching Democrats destroy this country. Whatever they expected to achieve by running some lame Facebook ads, the assistance the Democrats are rendering them must be their wildest expectations.
Sadly, this applies to a large part of the nation. They are ignorant of the level of damage they are doing to the nation in order to illegally and unConstitutionally wrest power away from a duly elected President that happens NOT to be the one they wanted.
That Trump committed adultery with a porn star over a decade ago isn’t really the issue.
The issue is that secret hush money payments were made on Trump’s behalf to keep the porn star and a second female accuser quiet during his recent presidential campaign. That runs afoul of campaign finance laws.
How the Stormy Daniels payment may have violated election law
Trying to cover up the payoffs after the fact becomes a second serious problem. That could be presented to a court as obstruction of justice, a second criminal act. As you might recall from the Bill Clinton impeachment episode, it’s sometimes the cover up that gets you in deep trouble.
@Greg:
It can’t be since you can’t prove it’s true.
Except you have to prove this was something he would not have done if he wasn’t in a campaign. Think that can happen?
How is not talking about something covering it up? How did Trump try to cover it up? There are conversations where Cohen told Trump he was going to make payments in cash but Trump insisted they be made by check… so there was a RECORD. This wasn’t a case of disregarding and breaking laws because he thought he would be President and have the full power of the Federal government to erase it; Trump had done nothing wrong and was in no way assured of winning.
Poor, poor gullible liberals.
How many times have details about the Daniels payoff changed? Gullible would be believing Cohen and Trump’s explanations every step of the way. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, among other things.
@Greg:
How does a private transaction, a NDA, run afoul of campaign finance laws, Greggie Gullible? Oh, that’s right. You just parrot the left wing talking heads that have NO CLUE about campaign finance laws.
If Cohen made the payments, and he claims he did, and Trump repaid Cohen from his personal bank account, there is no campaign finance violation.
And, boohoo, campaign finance violations are not an impeachable offence. If it was, Obama should have been impeached as he was FINED hundreds of thousands of dollars for campaign finance violations.
Now, you’re going to claim that paying off those two women helped, and aided, his campaign, then so does Nancy Pelosi’s hair dresser, her Botox treatments, and her clothes.
@Deplorable Me:
People like Greggie Gullible don’t seem to understand that a candidate is allowed to have a personal account where he can pay someone for mowing his lawn, cleaning his bathrooms, or getting two blackmailers to sign a NDA.
Not to mention that the left leaning MSM has gone from Russia!!! Russia !!! Russia!!! to oh, looky, campaign finance violations. IMPEACH!!!
I’m sure Greggie Gullible has shoes that close with Velcro. He’s too damn stupid to know how to tie them.
@Greg:
I don’t know (or care)… how many?
What was the total amount of payoff Hillary took for signing off on the Uranium One deal? We know $500 K wasn’t the full payment.
@retire05, #5:
We’re supposed to believe that Cohen made payments to Trump accusers to remain silent, but had no concern about how their stories might affect voter opinions? Hey, why not. We’re supposed to unquestioningly believe whatever the current version is of their frequently changing story. Just erase from memory whatever it was they said previously, and there’s no problem. Cohen is a weak person, so you can’t believe anything he confessed to.
@Greg: Well, look at the non-effect on Hillary’s voters her incompetence, lies and corruption as well as her husband’s sexual assaults (thanks to her enabling) had.
@Greg: Could there be any other reason the President did not want the stripper story public any other reason at all? I know this may require you to use your own brain and not mindlessly repeat what legacy media tells you. I know you can do it think 1 other reason for the NDA. Dont give him any answers DM he can do this I only ask for 1 other reason.
@kitt:
Because then all the porn stars would want some.
@kitt:
No doubt that there were a number of people he wanted to deceive, in addition to the electorate.
@Deplorable Me: I said no hints
@Greg: Good job you just vindicated the President! It wasnt about the election. For it to be an illegal campaign contribution there can be no other reason for the NDA. Try to prove he did not want his kids or wife to to find out or have the issue public to embarrass his family.
@Greg: I guess if he was a Clinton, he could have suicided her.
Nice Democracy you have there it would be a shame if you joined the EU….
May and now Macron https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/12/macron-government-to-face-no-confidence-vote-following-french-protests.html