John Solomon:
As Donald Trump began his meteoric rise to the presidency, the Obama White House summoned Ukrainian authorities to Washington to coordinate ongoing anti-corruption efforts inside Russia’s most critical neighbor.
The January 2016 gathering, confirmed by multiple participants and contemporaneous memos, brought some of Ukraine’s top corruption prosecutors and investigators face to face with members of former President Obama’s National Security Council (NSC), the FBI, State Department and Department of Justice (DOJ).
The agenda suggested the purpose was training and coordination. But Ukrainian participants said it didn’t take long — during the meetings and afterward — to realize the Americans’ objectives included two politically hot investigations: one that touched Vice President Joe Biden’s family and one that involved a lobbying firm linked closely to then-candidate Trump.
U.S. officials “kept talking about how important it was that all of our anti-corruption efforts be united,” said Andrii Telizhenko, then a political officer in the Ukraine embassy in Washington tasked with organizing the meeting.
Telizhenko, who no longer works for the Ukraine embassy, said U.S. officials volunteered during the meetings — one of which was held in the White House’s Old Executive Office Building — that they had an interest in reviving a closed investigation into payments to U.S. figures from Ukraine’s Russia-backed Party of Regions.
That 2014 investigation was led by the FBI and focused heavily on GOP lobbyist Paul Manafort, whose firm long had been tied to Trump through his partner and Trump pal, Roger Stone.
Agents interviewed Manafort in 2014 about whether he received undeclared payments from the party of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, an ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and whether he engaged in improper foreign lobbying.
The FBI shut down the case without charging Manafort.
More at The Hill
Equal justice under the law. Right?
HELLLLL-LO! Has the counterintelligence investigation of Biden begun yet?
So, to be clear, when DEMOCRATS collude with foreign governments to skew elections, it’s a good thing while when Republicans DON’T do it, it’s impeachable. Do I have that about right?
Does the black ledger contain other payments? https://www.businessinsider.com/tony-podesta-russian-backed-lobbying-ukraine-manafort-mueller-russia-2017-10
Have the Podestas suits been photographed, where do they order their clothing from. Whats with the freaky “artwork”?
If Muellers investigation was about meddling in the election by Russia or its cohorts he did a 1/2 ass job.
@kitt: While the Obama administration was standing down against Russian interference, they were colluding with Ukrainians to cultivate THEIR interference.
@Deplorable Me: Now who is interfering in our elections?
Biden Tells Donors He’s Running Because Global Leaders Have Asked Him to ‘Save the World’
No doubt with cash and prizes for Hunter.
Source
@Michael: There was no “pressure” and Comey has admitted as much. Like even those who interviewed General Flynn, Trump felt the General was innocent and should not be persecuted. But, Mueller was desperate for someone to sign off on his lies.
It failed and with it, the coup.
@kitt: Those “global leaders” that speak inside his head.
@Deplorable Me:
Maybe Michael would like to explain why he posted, and then deleted, this part:
IOW, someone told someone else, in a confidential conversation, who then told me this confidential information. Isn’t that kinda like saying “I heard this from my neighbor who heard it from their uncle’s father-in-law who heard it from their cousin?”
Hearsay thrice removed and Michael considers this a reliable source? Liberals will believe anything.
@retire05: Well, they’er pretty desperate. After all, Genius Gropin’ Joe is their best hope.
@Deplorable Me: OMG he has learned to edit and cut and paste.
I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who heard it from another you were shutting me down.
@retire05:
I was shortening the quote to the key point. “Wall of text” is DeplorableMe’s turf, and I didn’t want to step on his toes.
It wouldn’t be much of a trick to try to hide part of the quote and then, in the next sentence, give you a link to the full quote.
@retire05:
Let me remind you that the source for your version of events is the perp himself. How on Earth is that a reliable source?
@Michael:
And what would be my “version” of events?
I have spoke very little of Russiagate. I know that the whole [public] thing was based on a phony dossier bought and paid for by the Hillary For President campaign and the DNC. I know that that phony dossier was used to obtain FISA court warrants. I know that the investigation started long before Strzok (or however his name is spelled), McCabe, Brennan, Comey and the rest of the slugs want to admit.
I also know that it was thought that the Russians had audio tapes of Bill Clinton’s phone conversations with the owner of the blue dress, and he even warned her that was a possibility. For anyone to think the Russians have not been spying on the U.S. and trying to interfere in U.S. issues for years is an idiot.
So who is the “perp” you speak of when the Mueller report states clearly, that NO American “colluded” with the Russians to affect the elections?
@retire05:
The perp who, the Mueller reports states clearly, committed obstruction of justice. That perp. The guy who perpetrated the obstruction.
EDIT: Oh, shit! I edited this comment to fix a punctuation error. I wonder whether retire05 caught me at it.
@Michael:
Yeah, right.
Do you not have access to health care, Michael? Because you obviously need some mental health treatment.
Leaks designed to serve as propaganda are not facts, but then Michael, Rich and Greg believe anything that has potential to harm Trump. The left never believes fact. This is best showed in their support for Climate change or AGW. The 2 years of leaks from the Mueller investigation can not be verified as facts either. The left believes in their ideology based upon opinion. Any thing that fails to fall within the boundaries of their ideology is dismissed. Facts and real information falls into that category.
Remember the Hollywood actors and actress who said they know more about life than normal people because they “play” so many parts. The radical left politicians create scripts which they follow using imaginary scenarios instead of facts and the rest of the people embracing their ideology emulates them.
@Michael:
Didn’t want to get embarrassed again?
What is reliable is the truth and your co-conspirators have totally discarded their credibility. Thus far, Trump has been far more honest and accurate about these matters than anyone you choose to quote. Trump said there was no collusion, you spread the stories that there was collusion and the evidence of it was ample, available and on-hand. Now, who was telling the truth?
Yeah, that is so clearly stated that debates rage as to what he said, what he meant and if there WAS obstruction, why didn’t he clearly say so. Oh, crystal clear. I guess that’s why Trump has been impeached already, right?
@Deplorable Me:
Mueller spent 182 pages detailing the obstruction, explained why he didn’t hand down an indictment, and then explicitly called on Congress to act on his information. He also specifically noted that if he could have said that Trump was cleared of obstruction, Mueller would have so stated. Finally, he said that Trump was not exonerated on the question of obstruction by the report.
The only people disputing that these are the things Mueller said are the serious Trumophiles.
Finally, there are plenty of members of Congress who are calling for impeachment.
@Michael: There are plenty of people in congress that do know know what they are doing. How about the congress man who was concerned that putting more military on Guam would likely tip it over into the ocean? Or the Congress woman who said she knows all about the three branches of the government, the administrative, the Senate and the House of Representatives? Or the speaker of the house who wants to use more natural gas instead of fossil fuels? Or a former senator, Sec of State who believes there is a layer of CO2 in our atmosphere that acts like a green house glass? Wanting to impeach for invalid reasons are just another example of not knowing what they are doing. Does that include you?
@Michael:
I know you don’t like lots of words, so if you’d like, you can skip to the bottom for an abbreviated version of my response.
If there had BEEN obstruction, it would have been clearly stated, not word-smithed to the point that anyone can draw whatever conclusion they chose. The entire “investigation” was created to damage Trump; if they couldn’t find SOMETHING, then to create the guilt by association with the “investigation”. In the end… NOTHING. So, he did the best he could, which was to opine that this that or the other COULD be considered obstruction so, whiny crybabies of Congress, make whatever use of it as you can.
Note that were there actual obstruction laid out, Pelosi would not be trying to herd her kommunist kittens away from an unwarranted and damaging impeachment vote. Also, regardless of Barr’s opinion, there would have been NOTHING preventing Mueller from recommending an indictment for obstruction if he could have supported it with evidence.
Your previous example of the accusation that Trump “pressured” Comey to drop the Gen. Flynn investigation is proof enough; even Comey says that never happened and, as we now know, Gen. Flynn never lied anyway.
They’ve been calling for impeachment since before he was sworn in. It is nothing but desperation due to their lack of ideas, policies, programs or candidates that benefit the American people.
Condensed version: You’re full of shit and it’s beginning to stink up the joint.
@Deplorable Me: I still think that Mueller is afraid that if he tried to get Trump, Trump would open up the investigations into Mueller’s past. He was inth soft COUP and the support of HRC and the Clinton Foundation.
@Randy: There was no coup attempt.
@Michael:
Source?
The coup attempt is still ongoing, as your Party is exploiting you and your fellow followers’ blind faith by continuing the farce of “Obstruction”. This whole affair is a political heist, and you know it. Your candidate lost the 2016 election.
So, your party is offering…what? What do the Dems even stand for, now? It’s all hate and tricks and “obstruction”. If you have any honor at all, you understand we now need to investigate why this investigation even happened.
You’re easily dismissed if you will swallow “obstruction” but not support legal inquiry into your own Party.
The “obstruction” you shifted to as a battle cry is Trump resisting anything that that your party or the MSM could distort to make false claims. He was already victim to an illegal investigation, so yeah…no reason to make it easy for them.
HRC smashed servers. That’s intent. Trump? What did he do, exactly?
I warn you, if this is your Party’s platform for 2020, riding this obstruction nonsense down into oblivion, you’ve already lost the election.
But keep squawking.
@Deplorable Me:
Stated in the Mueller report:
“We determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes. Fairness concerns counseled against potentially reaching that judgment when no charges can be brought. The ordinary means for an individual to respond to an accusations is through a speedy and public trial, with all the procedural protections that surround a criminal case. An individual who believes he was wrongfully accused can use that process to seek to clear his name. In contrast, a prosecutor’s judgment that crimes were committed, but that no charges will be brought, affords no such adversarial opportunity for public name-clearing before an impartial adjudicator. The concerns about the fairness of such a determination would be heightened in the case of a sitting President, where a federal prosecutor’s accusations of a crime, even in an internal report, could carry consequence that extend beyond the realm of criminal justice.”
There you have it. By not taking action, Mueller smeared the president with innuendos and through the court of left wing public opinion. Had Mueller recommended indictment for “obstruction”, President Trump would have been able to challenge that through the trial process and legally defend himself against such charges.
Unfortunately, our resident leftist refuse to admit to that was the sole intention of Part II of the Mueller report although Mueller’s entire team was built on Hillary/Democrat advocates, especially the unscrupulous Andrew Weissmann.
@retire05:
But Mueller couldn’t indict the sitting president if he were to follow the rules under which he operated, so he recommended that Congress address the accusations in a forum where Trump will, in fact, be able to directly address his accusers and stage a defense.
You just pulverized your own case.
@Michael:
And what rule would that be, Michael? And when did it take affect?
@retire05: That would be the rules they wrote for Clintons lying, it is based in interfering with a Presidents duty to run the nation and preventing him from doing that by endlessly dragging him into hearings and so forth.
It drives the left crazy when big legal decisions work against them.
That was not why Mueller did not recommend indictment it was the AG did not find weak inane legal arguments made to find solid evidence of obstruction they did not hold water. Lack of evidence, they were given every document requested. Full cooperation from the White House makes it difficult to make a case.
@retire05:
From the DoJ website:
@Michael:
He could have done whatever he wanted. If he felt there was an indictable offense, he could have indicted whether it held up or not. Mueller pretty much went his own way throughout the “investigation”, including using dramatic armed raids against non-violent and cooperative suspects, even timing them to coordinate with distracting attention from events unfavorable to Democrats. Suspects that don’t produce the requisite amount of anti-Trump material would be persecuted and bankrupted. When leaks were necessary, leaks were provided even when there was no real information to leak.
So, Mueller would not have hesitated to have recommended an indictment if he thought answering for it with evidence would not have been a huge embarrassment. All of the Democrat party would have rallied to his defense, cheered him on and just like hardly a single action could be taken by the Trump administration without it being associated with obstruction, so any retaliation against Mueller would have been politicized and weaponized.
And you deny the existence of a coup. Pfft.
@Michael:
Very good.
Now I suppose you made a mental note of the date, October 16, 2000 Three weeks before the 2000 general election when the Democrats were absolutely positive their golden boy, Al Gore, would defeat the hillbilly Texan, George W. Bush and flip the Congress from red to blue and if the Congress didn’t flip, they guaranteed Al Gore, could not be indicted. That didn’t exactly work out for them and now the rules apply to Trump, much to their dismay.
Of course, impeachment doesn’t really mean much. Clinton was impeached, and tried by the Senate of the impeachment charges which included “obstruction.” Clinton narrowly beat the rap in the Senate and remained president, hence the ruling to protect the [corrupt] Al Gore.
But all of that doesn’t change the wording of the Mueller report which actually admits that the route taken was to convict in the court of public opinion. The Democrat’s attitude is that one of theirs could be found in bed with a live man or a dead girl and they would rally the troops while a Republican will be slandered for as much as eating a hot dog in New York.
@Deplorable Me:
To be true, this bit of speculation requires you to a) ignore what Mueller explicitly lays out in his report and b) be able to read his mind. You can do a) if you’d like, I guess, but b) is not physically possible, so you don’t get that one.
This silly rabbit hole is certainly avoiding Barrys involvement in the attempted coup, both before and after the election.
His financial contribution to the firm creating the dossier. His wanting to know everything the FBI were doing, as per the texts from the love birds.
Then shadowing Trump around the planet as he met with leaders. Logan act violations anyone?
@Michael:
If it were “explicit” (as in definitively true and actually obstruction) he would have already been impeached. So, there’s that… or rather, there ISN’T.
One doesn’t have to read his mind, only follow the trail. Sorry… I realize I’m speaking with someone incapable of that… one that just takes what they are told (obstruction is proved, there WAS collusion, the economy is not that good now, etc, etc) and believe it without proof. However, the evidence used, the manner in which it was circulated until the FBI got a ping back which gave them the excuse to pretend to believe the lies they had in hand, the slimy methods Mueller used to try to get people to lie for his cause, the theatrics of his armed raids (replete with CNN coverage), the phony, worthless indictments of the Russians… it all paints a picture of a politically motivated gambit.
@retire05: Narrowly?? lol
Needing 67 votes to convict the Repub controlled Senate–57 members –got 50 for obstruction and 45 for perjury—not even close.
Eoolish to impeach Trump—-Biden beats him in 2020.
@Richard Wheeler:
Nobody likes Biden, and if he somehow won the nomination, the Dems would be handing the election to Trump in 2020. You’re party painted itself in a corner with intersectionality, so to run an old white guy is suicide. Your own party has already said they don’t want Biden as the candidate, so Trump wins in 2020, EC and popular vote.
@Michael:
None of it will matter. You and are your party hold on to this out of desperation, and nothing else. I applaud any efforts Trump made to resist this farce, and if you think that resistance will result in any true crimes of “obstruction” that will go to court, you’re mistaken. If we caught Hillary destroying servers and nothing happened to her, nothing is going to happen to Trump for simply suffering a politically motivated hoax with a little push-back.
But please, keep hammering on this. Your party’s defeat in 2020 is all but certain now.
I love how the “Collusion” hysteria very quickly pivoted to “Obstruction” hysteria.
These Democrats will abandon all honor and reason, it seems, to obtain the supremacy the late-night talk shows convinced them they had…
..though they don’t.
@Nathan Blue:
“Your own party has already said they don’t want Biden as their candidate. “
The party said that? I had no idea a vote had been taken.
When did this happen, Nathan?
Sounds like the BS that Deplorable Me has become famous for on this website.
@Nathan Blue: ‘Nobody likes Biden.” You’re nuts.
Nobody likes Trump–well except white nationalists and about half their wives—he can’t get approval over 43%.
No —Biden gets nom , full Dem and Indie support. Takes back traditional Dem Pa. and Mi. and beats Trump in 2020—easy..
@Richard Wheeler: Actually Rich, it is not about liking. It is about how much the bottom line has increased. Even the never Trumpers are moving over. There was predictions today that Trump would win 2020 67% to 26 %. You keep supporting a dead horse!
It looks like Rhodes, Yates, Comey, Bremmer and Clapper and many others are starting to justify Obama administration actions concerning spying on Trump and allowing Russians to interfere in elections. I also heard many rumors. Trump has cornered the market on pop corn. Obama and Susan Rice have purchased a villa in Cuba. Rosenstein has spilled the beans. Biden is going to testify in front of the Senate. So many rumors! What should we believe?
@Richard Wheeler: Welcome back RW, Biden has tons of baggage. Perhaps Hunter is getting low on funds and Creepy has to get with the big wheels again to help the kid make the right connections, and avoid investigations.
Then his grand choie of senior advisors, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/biden-senior-adviser-we-dont-need-white-men-leading-the-democratic-party
Should someone let her in on it?
@Randy:67-26 What kind of idiot would make such a prediction??
It’s very early but Biden leads DT by average of 7% in early national polls–
As in 2012 it will come down to who wins in Pa and Mich—narrowly won by DT in 2012 but traditionally Dem and states Biden will outperform HRC who mistakenly took them for granted.—never trumper Repubs not that important Dems and indies will overwhelm Repubs in 2020.
@rich wheeler: Actually is was a wall street guy who believes that Trump is actually doing what he said he would do even though the Democrats are throwing every thing they can in front of him. When was the GNP 3.2%. Biden will end up taking the blame for Obama’s screw-ups.
@rich wheeler: If nobody likes Trump why is he filling large venues to overflowing? Everywhere he goes like a rockstar he has a packed house.
@Randy:
The Democrat food fight hasn’t even started. It will get nasty as Kamala, Cory, Robert Francis, et al, all start throwing food at each other. Right now they are still in the “polite” phase. Come November 2019 they will each start going after Super Delegates. That is when the fun will start and you will need a good supply of pop corn.
@kitt: See #38 for who likes DT and fill the stadiums for free—-Garth and Mick fill em for $100-$500 A SEAT—They ain’t running.
Your Wisc is another Joe should return to Blue.
Kitt Joe gets nom—rest will vie for Veep—I like Hawaii Vet—smart beautiful Lady.
@Richard Wheeler: No doubt Joe gets the nod, the old boy had no clue what the meme machines have in store for him he is as easy as Hillary for the Pepe army. He should take Hillary along as Veep.
The hardball questions, Gaff boy has yet to be asked. The Dems cant fill them Barry was in Milwaukee and couldnt fill a girls HS gymnasium. Milwaukee is a Dem liberal city, and around Madison.
Can you see where Sleepy can get 10K or more? Anywhere?
Trump broke the record for the Resch, no empty seats, 40 degrees, lines hours long, it was suppose to snow 3 to 5 inches still they came, the snow did not.
The previous record attendance at the facility was in 2003 when Elton John performed before 10,414 people.
@kitt:
North Division High School is not an all-girl school, and high schools don’t have separate gyms for boys and girls. It’s depressing how you just accepted and passed on the “girls’ gymnasium” line of attack, confident that saying “girls’ gym” made his small crowd even more ignominious.
I’m sorry that you’ve so deeply internalized that bit of misogyny.
@Randy:
Well, you can’t believe Lyin’ Gropin’ Genius Joe. He’s been lying since he started his campaign.
@rich wheeler: Do you think Biden needs to answer for his connections in China and Ukraine and his efforts to shut down the Ukrainian investigation of his son and his business dealings in Ukraine? After all your whining and bellyaching over Trump’s collusion (all found to be false) have you denounced Biden’s tentacles extended into foreign countries where he used his influence to get his son involved?
Here’s my guess: no, you don’t care. All that angst is phony. You simply hate Trump for not being Hillary or Obama. Any and all crimes and corruption committed by Democrats is OK as long as the promises of free rewards keep coming.
@Deplorable Me: Who claims DT and his less than merry men were not involveD in obstruction? Certainly not Mueller.
Lying—Trump has obliterated the lying meter—it’s his m.o.-some say he believes his own lies–I Ithink he is without a moral compass and simply enjoys lying knowing his Trumpeteers , like you., will still back him.
Any obstructive practices of Biden or Trump should be fully vetted.
HRC—Didn’t back her–
-Like Tulsi Gabbard for Veep.