Everything you didn't want to know about Trump and were not afraid to ask

[Scot Dutchy]

Seems Mr Cohen has been fiddling his books to the tune of $20m.

Something unusual?

[Sean Hayden]

Sean get's a bit tetchy when he perceives non-stop criticism of the US, even though he gives his own country a fair serve at times...

Trump, Trump, Trump, it's fucking incredible innit? Big ass world has suddenly become so small, really small man, a shame really, it was a big world, a great world, huge world, such a shame.

[Tero]

Trump to leave a legacy! Ban abortion!

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/ ... als-784530
Or at least let states ban it:

The Alabama Democrat is one of a half-dozen senators on the receiving end of millions of dollars in ad spending over the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh that heavily favors Republicans trying to confirm him to liberals trying to stop him. Conservatives have run more than $7.5 million in television ads thus far compared with approximately $1.3 million from liberals in the fight over Kavanaugh’s confirmation, according to spending analyzed by POLITICO and Advertising Analytics.

[Animavore]

Trump actually calls someone a 'rat'.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/19/opin ... index.html

And Trump-supporting invertebrates scoffed when Comey compared him to a mob boss.

[Svartalf]

well, takes one to know one.

[Animavore]

I reckon he'd sing like a canary. I still can't get over the image of the cowed, humbled Trump as he caved under Putin. The Emperor was bollock naked that day. And still the cult members don't see what a weakling he is.

I guess because it would mean they would have to acknowledge their own weakness.

[Animavore]

Never thought about it like that.

[Forty Two]

No unhinged demands to merge this thread?

[Forty Two]

Trump to leave a legacy! Ban abortion!

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/ ... als-784530
Or at least let states ban it:

The Alabama Democrat is one of a half-dozen senators on the receiving end of millions of dollars in ad spending over the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh that heavily favors Republicans trying to confirm him to liberals trying to stop him. Conservatives have run more than $7.5 million in television ads thus far compared with approximately $1.3 million from liberals in the fight over Kavanaugh’s confirmation, according to spending analyzed by POLITICO and Advertising Analytics.

I forget which thread this is - is there such a thing as a "right" to abortion? Or, should the regulation of abortion be up to the majority of the electorate and their elected representatives?

[Animavore]

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former longtime personal attorney, has tentatively reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, ABC News has learned.

Given Cohen’s proximity to Trump during the past decade, including throughout his meteoric rise from mogul and reality television star to the White House, observers consider him one of most potent legal thorns to confront Trump’s presidency since he took office.

“The guy who knows where all the bodies are buried,” said Seth Hettena, an author and veteran journalist who has chronicled Trump’s business career.

The investigation into Cohen was referred to New York’s Southern District by special counsel Robert Mueller, and if Cohen agrees to cooperate, the information he provides could benefit the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. But it remains unclear if he has committed to cooperate.

Cohen’s relationship with Trump dates to the mid-2000’s after Cohen, who owned condominiums in multiple Trump buildings in New York, took Trump’s side in a legal dispute with the condo board at Trump World Tower on Manhattan’s East Side. Cohen eventually went to work for the Trump Organization, where he held the positions of executive vice president and special counsel to Donald J. Trump.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michael ... d=57310974

[Forty Two]

There is a problem in national security: Trump

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/18/63932909 ... rity-world

He has become an unsparing critic of the president, one especially dangerous because of the perception — one that Brennan cultivates — that he knows something secret about the president based on his tenure as head of the CIA.

Sounds like a good reason to revoke his security clearance. And, if he really does "know something" about Trump that matters, then he ought to disclose it. I mean, if it's really a matter of national security, in his mind, then throw yourself on the grenade, Brennan, and let the people know the truth.

"When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America ... America will triumph over you."

- Gee, I can't imagine why a President wouldn't want to avail himself of the expertise and advice of someone who makes this kind of public statement. Surely, someone like that should be someone the President and his administration officials seek out advice from, because that person is clearly not taking up an adverse political position.

Brennan's clear implication: There are things to be known about Trump, and when they are known, game over. Further implication: I, John Brennan, a long-serving national security leader with deep awareness of America's official secrets, know these things.

There are serious implications for the national security world. But in terms of the political duel with Brennan, however, Trump may have scored an important short-term victory.

How so? Brennan took Trump's bait at once and wrote a New York Times op-ed on Thursday that inveighed against the president's attempt to "silence" him and other Trump critics. Trump's denials that his campaign colluded with the Russian attack on the 2016 election are "hogwash," Brennan wrote.

Based upon what, though? Not secret spy reporting. Instead Brennan cited what he has learned from "the reporting of an open and free press."

Meaning what? If the basis for Brennan's darkly prophetic attacks is only what he reads in the newspapers, Trump doesn't have much to worry about. Brennan, it appears, isn't holding any high cards.

So, does Brennan have spy-info, top secret stuff that he hasn't shared? What? Or, does he just speculate based on the press reports?

And, aren't Brennan's tweets basically veiled threats of a comeuppance and day of reckoning to which the venal and evil Trump is headed? A CIA Director giving the President dire forewarnings of impending doom upon his criminal presidency? And, anyone is surprised he would lose clearance? I can't imagine if the former Director of the CIA said the same stuff about Obama that anyone would bat an eye at him being cast out and denied security clearance. It would be portrayed a reasonable reaction by the commander-in-chief who is - no matter how you slice it - the actual head of the CIA and "intelligence community" -- they are part of the Executive Branch, and the President is the Constitutionally designated head of the executive branch. He decides who is a security threat and who is not. He gets information from the CIA who are charged with helping him, not the other way around. The President sets executive policy, not the CIA and not a former director of the CIA.

Brennan says it's "hogwash" -- o.k., haul him before a committee in Congress, and put him under oath to tell us what the fuck he knows, or at least tell Congressmen in a closed session so they can take action. Otherwise, it's a fucking political game, and he knows it.

[Animavore]

Michael Cohen, Trump’s Former Fixer, Reaches Plea Deal Over Payments to Women



Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s combative former lawyer and fixer, reached a plea agreement on Tuesday with prosecutors investigating payments he made to women on behalf of Mr. Trump — a deal that does not include cooperation with federal authorities, two people familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Cohen is expected to plead guilty to multiple counts of bank and tax fraud and campaign finance violations. For months, prosecutors in New York have been investigating him in connection with those crimes and focusing on his role in helping to arrange financial deals to secure the silence of women who said they had affairs with Mr. Trump.

The United States attorney’s office announced that there would be a “proceeding of interest” in a case against a defendant identified only as John Doe — language that almost always indicates a guilty plea. One person with knowledge of the matter said the proceeding would be the guilty plea by Mr. Cohen.

Mr. Cohen surrendered to the F.B.I. at the bureau’s Lower Manhattan offices at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Continues...

[Animavore]

https://www.ecowatch.com/wotus-rule-cle ... 64636.html

A federal judge invalidated the Trump administration's suspension of the Clean Water Rule, effectively reinstating the Obama-era regulation in 26 states.

The 2015 rule, also known as Waters of the United States (WOTUS) defines which waters can be protected from pollution and destruction under the Clean Water Act. It protects large water bodies such as lakes and rivers, as well as small streams and wetlands.

But last year, President Trump declared WOTUS "a horrible, horrible rule" and tasked then-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt to replace it. In February, Pruitt issued a "Suspension Rule" that delayed WOTUS until 2020 in order to craft a looser and more industry-friendly rule.

On Thursday, South Carolina District Judge David Norton sided with a coalition of conservation groups that challenged the delay, and placed a nationwide injunction on Pruitt's suspension rule. The decision does not apply to 24 other states where legal challenges are pending.

At least some people are able to but the brakes on this scumbag and his corrupt, evil administration.

[Brian Peacock]

Cohen has admitted Trump directed him to make payments that violated campaign finance laws.

[pErvinalia]

#WITCHHUNT