On CNN this morning, someone (Chris Cuomo?) was actually laughing about the fact that Emperor Baby Fists can say or tweet the most unhinged things and his base of support – millions of Americans – will willingly jump off the same cliff with him. It’s disturbing that this our new normal, and that Easy D can just tweet whatever bulls–t he wants and there are no consequences. So, over the weekend, Easy D tweeted that he had just learned that President Obama had wiretapped him during the election. Donald Trump offered no proof, and his people in the White House spent the weekend trying to figure out what they should say or do next. So, here’s some of the stuff that’s happened in the past 24 hours or so:
Reince Priebus is the Fall Guy. According to Politico, the “knives are out” for Priebus and senior staffers are blaming him for the past six weeks of controversy. Which is funny because A) I don’t think Priebus even likes Baby Fists, B) blaming Priebus for Trump’s failings is like blaming a duck for a hurricane and C) Priebus is an a–hole so no one is going to cry about it if and when he gets sh-tcanned.
No one in Congress really knows what to say. In the wake of Easy D’s Obama-wiretapping accusations, Republicans are like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and Democrats are like “????” The White House is “pushing for a Congressional probe” into Trump’s accusations, as in… the White House wants Congress to investigate what Trump tweeted about, not the fact that Trump is an unhinged madman with access to Twitter. Congress doesn’t know where to start or what to do next.
James Comey said words. Reportedly, FBI Director James Comey asked the Department of Justice to “reject” Trump’s wiretapping claims. I don’t know what to make of that. I mean, it could be that Trump just compromised an ongoing FBI investigation with his tweets. It could also be that the FBI doesn’t have a current wiretap. It could be that FBI-Trumpland is actively turning a blind eye to Trump’s acitivities, as opposed to their actual witch hunt of Hillary Clinton during the election.
Baby Fists is raging. WaPo did a lengthy story about how Trump is “raging” about all of the leaks about his administration, and he is so pissy-baby angry about the Russia stories.
Jake Tapper’s theory. I retweeted this yesterday, and I think it might be true. Donald Trump lives in a bubble of right-wing (Alt-right) media, and they publish some crazy sh-t. I think this probably came from Steve Bannon’s people.
WH officials with whom I spoke said POTUS got the info about wiretap from media – Breitbart, Levin – not from govt sources.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 5, 2017
Last thing: Trump adviser Roger Stone had a spectacular Twitter meltdown over the weekend. He was calling women “stupid ugly bitches” and confirming that he had back channel connections to Julian Assange and more – go here to see.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
If he can’t offer any evidence, then it shouldn’t be investigated. Period.
No, I say use his demand for an investigation as an excuse to get an independent prosecutor on the case to investigate HIM and the Russian connection.
Exactly a probe is only make t worse for trump. If there was a tap it means they had a good reason to believe he was colluding with the Russians (and the order would’ve come from an intelligence agency). If not the probe could go into trump.
He’s acting like a cornered animal that knows it’s about to be devoured.
I wanted to rage at the disrespect of the newest idiotic claims but again this is a distraction. While this is going on the GOP is ramming through bills that will legit kill us. No clean air. No clean water. No access to education.
Don’t be distracted.
So interesting Vauvert…maybe there’s a secret room at Mar a Lago that he uses to try to prevent “bugging”.
This entire mess must be revealed soon enough. I think this will make Watergate look like a juvenile soap opera.
Agreed, but I don’t think dismissing this and moving on is the answer. As AYFR says, maybe this is the incident that will finally lead TBTB to finally investigate Trump for real.
A larger investigation could reveal what if any merit this claim has.
Fortunately, I didn’t notice anyone jumping to join his circus act, other than Spicey’s helper who was rolled out this weekend for interviews.
This is reminding me a bit of the Nixon WH tapes – RN himself put that process in the Oval Office, then it came back on him when the tapes revealed discussions about the Watergate break-in and payment of hush money.
The problem is how do you prove something that doesn’t exist, doesn’t, in fact, exist? Trump is a master at creating doubt. No matter what evidence comes forward, his mindless followers will believe it is some kind of cover up.
I firmly believe he is running scared on Russia, but why? Clapper said on CNN yesterday that the intelligence community found no evidence of Trump’s campaign colluding with Russia. That leads me to believe the ties are to Trump’s business. Perhaps he is about to be exposed as a complete fraud. If it were proven he is not the great businessman he claims, that might put a dent in his base.
I heard Trump is broke and that he did get help from Russian banks. They know about his tax situation etc.
@Odell I have heard the same rumors, and in Russia receiving money from Russian banks means receiving money from the Russian government. In 2008 DT Jr said, “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.” Donald Trump Jr. added, “we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.” I feel pretty confident that the bigwigs in Russia have DT by the balls financially.
Maddow outlined shady connections on her show twice last week.
If no one takes the more obvious emoluments issue seriously, perhaps clearer connections to money laundering will get some attention.
I remember reading that Trump has been bailed out by Russia, too. The thing is, clearly nothing, no matter how egregious, will sway his stubborn base. Looking ahead to 2020, rather than focus on trying to stop Trump, which seems to be an exercise in futility, the Democrats need to find candidates who can connect with the hearts and minds of voters the way he did.
If you follow Adam Khan on Twitter (I think it’s @Khanoisseur) he has been showing the links for a while – in a sense it is ridiculously easy because all these people with ties to both Putin and Trump have got themselves condos in Trump Tower – Manafort and Cohen, Mogilevich and Sater. (Not to mention a bunch of Saudis, who may – or not – be connected to others who have funded terrorist groups… so if there was any wiretapping going on, it could have been on so many Trump tenants.)
You know the failed Florida condos? Russian oligarchs bought them at inflated prices to launder their dirty money. The Atlantic casinos that went under? Trump was fined $10M (biggest fine of its kind) for being used as a money laundering front for the Russian mob. He has been in bed with them for a long long time. When Flynn met with the Russian ambassador know who else was there? Jared, the golden son-in-law.
Oh and 40% of the Keystone steel is provided by Evraz – a company that is 31% owned by Abramovich, a major Putin, Kushner and Trump pal. It goes on and on.
@vauvert thanks for the tip on Khan. Just followed him.
Jake Tapper tweet:
“POTUS makes wild accusation w/zero evidence
WH searches for evidence & can’t find any
WH tells Congress to find evidence/no further
comment.” Tell him Jake. Classic trump, rambles on twitter any effen thing he wants to divert or seek attention, then refuses to address the accusations. Who hid his lithium. This is a very very sick man. I can only imagine what Pres. Obama is thinking. I pray this blows up so big that it brings this man down. But it won’t
I’m in love with Jake Tapper right now. Deeply.
this is a guy who complains about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act gets in the way of him being able to bribe foreign officials to get his business done and, then there’s this
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/bombshell-report-links-trump-hotel-to-corrupt-azerbaijan-oligarchs-and-iranian-terror-group/
I’m kind of leaning to what The Young Turks are saying, in that Trump allegedly made a financial deal with Russia and now it’s coming out.
I firmly believe he is in debt to Russia and the collusion is less about getting him elected and more about making sure that once he became POTUS their interests would be served through his policies. This is why he won’t release his tax returns, because it would expose his debt and financial connections to Russia.
It’s a distraction. He knows his involvement with Russia is about to blow up in his face. He’s desperate to get everyone’s attention turned somewhere else.
+1
Question for the legal-minded celebitches: If an investigation turns up nothing, can Obama sue Trump for libel?
I’m interested to hear responses to this question as well. When I heard about this effing foolery the first thing I said was “Obama really should sue his ass for this”. Obama IS and always will be the bigger person and the better man, but there comes a point where retaliation is necessary. Trump can’t accuse him of such an illegal act, having absolutely no evidence, and then just go his merry way.
Trump should be careful. Love for Obama gets stronger by the day. If Obama said take to the streets and demand Trump’s resignation, we’d all be out the door in a flash.
I really wish that Obama goes legally after Trump acusing him without evidence. Why should Trump get away with telking so many lies?
Anybody can sue for anything; the question is whether he would prevail. The bar is very high and difficult for a public figure. Among other things, he would have to show malice aforethought and damages. What harm has Trump’s bizarre tweeting actually done to Obama? Has it cost him anything?
Yes
I’ll happily join the Obama army.
Cannot believe they’re still “thanks, Obama”ing at this stage of the game. Yet Obama never fails to conduct himself with the outmost class and dignity.
LightPurple,
What if Obama brought on a lawsuit for the smear campaign that Trump has been waging against him for 6 years, citing the birther claims, these new wiretapping allegations, and the various other lies as part of a pattern of malice? I don’t know if it cost him anything but sleep and hair, but I feel like he might have some ground to stand on there.
I don’t think you can sue a sitting president, though…
@Doodle Well, I never thought I’d be happy to say this, but thanks to the Supreme Court ruling on behalf of Paula Jones, you can sue a sitting president.
I believe President Obama has too much class to wallow in the mud with a lowlife like trump. BHO will let the personal insults roll off his back while trumpkins self destructs.
Obama has intelligence, class, personal attractiveness and a loving family. Everything that trump does not have and it sends him into a jealous, frothing rage that he plays out in public.
Susanne, I agree that Obama would refuse to lower himself to sue Trump over the accusations. However, I wish he would because strategically, it would require Trump to give testimony under oath, and we all know he couldn’t find the truth with both hands and a flashlight. At that point, I think republicans would be forced to impeach him for lying under oath.
I know his supporters will believe anything he says, but DT going after Obama and claiming he did something illegal and that he’s lying? OB had very high personal approval ratings on leaving office, which means even those people who didn’t vote for him highly regard him.
@Megan, every time I think of that I laugh! The RNC supported that suit and now it is probably going to backfire on them in the way anyone with any legal training could have predicted.
Oh, and people always forget, that case went to the Supremes because Paula Jones LOST. They revived it on procedural grounds and remanded back to the district court where she LOST again.
I think an investigation would turn up something. I think that calls were recorded, not because Trump was being targeted for wire taps, but because Russians were under surveillance, and Trump’s team called those people.
Michelle and Barack are both attorneys. Would be interesting if there is some legal push back to Trump for his so far, unfounded accusations on twitter.
@ Doodle: a sitting President can be sued, this harkens back to the Repubs and POTUS Clinton & Paula Jones. The hilarity if that comes back to bite them.
@tegteg: I tend to agree with the others, the libel bar is too hard but I doubt POTUS O would bother. Constitutional Law expert Laurence Tribe argues that Tweet alone is an impeachable offense ” reckless disregard of truth while implying security briefings” – but given the state of Congress…
I think it’ll be the intelligence community and Trump’s hubris that does him in, counting the days…
With North Korea shooting off missiles into the ocean, let’s hope Trump doesn’t decide to start some war to divert attention from his shady Russia dealings
That is my constant nagging fear.
Seriously. This was my thought, too — North Korea is testing ballistic missiles and Trump is tweeting about his f^cking TV show.
Ive been saying that since the idiot contacted Taiwan after the election.
And some of them reached Japanese territorial waters, an ally’s waters…I think this is also a sign of dictatorships recognising the chaos and weakness in the US administration and giving them a poke in the ribs. It’s not only internally damaging for the US to be in the hands of trump and his rancid mob.
Trump is going insane. I hope the secret service can protect us before him.#trumprussia The latest Russian to die was an In law of his lawyer who lives in Trumps Hollywood FL condos. Trump has Russia closing in on one side and USA closing in on the Russian connections. Explains his fear!
Democrat Adam Schiff, on the INtel Committee, suggested that Trump is nuts. Jake Tapper kept asking him about it, and he said, “What’s your explanation??”
Trump is a pathological liar who is simply creating chaos to distract from his illegal behaviour. I don’t know why his supporters refuse to see sense. Trump needs to be ‘let go’, and soon, courtesy 25th amendment for being psychologically unfit as well. That Republicans are thirsty for power at any cost shows how degraded they are, to put themselves before the good of the country. Not exactly patriots, eh?
Go ahead, let’s see what’s there. I have no doubt in my mind that President Obama – if it’s true – followed the law… you sure you want this to come out, Drumpf?
The former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, said there was no FISA warrant issued, which means there was no wire tapping. This is a total fabrication.
I think Mark Levin and Breitbart were trying to diffuse the Russia story for the base with a fake news story that Trump was wire tapped and the FBI found no evidence of wrong doing. Trump seized on the wrong part of the story.
I think partly that and partly Trump was jealous of the attention Sessions was getting so “Hey! What about me? Obama and his wire ‘tapps” came after me!”
Megan, Yes, Trump was clueless as usual. Maybe that’s why Bannon was screaming in that video footage.
And Lightpurple, yes. Apparently Trump was upset that the Sessions news took the spotlight away from his Bigly Presidential speech.
These people live for their fake news.
Honestly I was so mad at the press this weekend for covering this B.S. story like it was serious news. Giving him the benefit of a doubt. Knocking off the Sessions perjury story from the front page for an obvious troll tweet from easy D. They played right into his tiny baby hands just as the Washington Post story Kaiser posted confirmed.
I mean if he tweets “I just found out that aliens from Mars are going around knocking up American women”, is the press going to lead with it as a potential REAL story to investigate and interview women about? When are they going to admit that Drumf is a pathological liar whose brain farts on tweeter should be ignored?
@Original T.C. Believe! Years ago News of the World printed a picture of Hillary and her alien baby. It was on the cover and looked a bit like ET, so just sayin’….
So let me get this straight. Trump is ranting about real news being fake news while he’s putting out fake news as real news. He’s either very, very smart or very, very dumb. Bigly.
I agree, I think the goal was to distract from Russia. This made it worse, IMO. He’s such an idiot.
Trump also claims it was illegal wiretapping of Trump tower – ya know, Obama went to radio shack, got some of them there listening devices and Macgyvered his way in & out of Trump tower to set up the illegal bugs . . .
baby fists hasn’t accomplished one thing in his short time as president except to sow his vile seeds of confusion. And he never will. It’s going to be a version of a very bad reality show for the next four years.
He is now attacking his staff in his insane paranoia. According to Daily Kos, ABC and other reporters saw baby fists screaming at Bannon and Priebus and both B and P just before their names were removed from Air Force Once manifest right before the trip to the Mar a Lago. Bannon did go there the next day.
Sorry, typing from my flakey phone. The names of Bannon and Priebus were removed from Air Force One manifest after this volatile exchange with baby fists. Bannon did travel to Mar a Lago the next day.
Trump threw a hissy fit, took his plane and went home. LMAO.
Trump threw a hissy fit and took OUR plane home.
Bannon will stick to Trump like a barnacle in pursuit of his own destructive agenda. But I don’t know why Priebus hasn’t resigned yet to get a real job for a sane boss. It doesn’t seem worth all the antacids and Excedrin.
Its not true and no President has the authority or the power to ask for wiretapping on an American citizen. Then has been the law since watergate.
Even with all of this bullcrap, I fear that a Republican congress won’t do anything to Impeach Trump.
I’m with you. Although I read an interesting theory in the comments of a NYT editorial this morning — maybe Trump is trying to get impeached because he’s in so far over his head. Probably just wishful thinking. I can’t imagine Easy D giving up the power he’s attained.
He should act like the grownup he isn’t and resign.
He could make up a health reason and resign, but I don’t think his ego will allow it. If he gets impeached, he can play the victim to his supporters for the rest of his life.
I’ll take either one, whatever gets him out of the Oval Office.
@lucy2 he would never admit that anything about him was less than perfect/the best and, at this point, I don’t think he’s resign of his own volition. IF he resigns, my guess is that the GOP will force him to do so by threatening him and his precious Ivanka with jail time but will help him create a compelling cover story that Melania is facing a health crisis. I’m surprised the GOP has let it get this far and many of them are still pulling the we won’t waste our time investigating our own crap in public. The longer they let this go, the more likely something even more damaging than we expect will come out and undermine Pence (or Ryan) ascending the the Republican throne they’ve created. Right now they’re still banking on the Bernie or Bust contingent to keep playing the “why won’t the DNC capitulate and let liberals who won’t join the party run it” but at some point, the democrats, many progressives and moderates may well make it clear to Bernie that his cult of personality followers and their need for purity is what lead us to this CF of a POTUS and a republican oligarchy, and cancel what remains of the political capital he earned during the primaries
Ol Cranky – hey, he could say Melania has a health crisis but her insurance won’t cover it….
My theory is that Priebus is the republican establishment guy, they think that while he’s there controlling Trump and running the show, they’re in charge so they don’t care what Trump does as long as they get to push through their agenda. But, if Priebus goes then it’s all Trump’s people in WH and with the ear of the president, the likes of Bannon. When the republicans sense that they’ve lost their grip on the steering wheel, then they’ll make moves to get rid of Trump and install equally- terrible-in-a-different-way-Pence.
That makes a lot of sense. The competing factions make things really delicate, I guess.
I don’t know how much longer Preibus can hang on. Pretty much everyone in the White House is leaking about what a terrible job he is doing. The only thing he has going for him are his massive Hill contacts. If Trump wants to pass legislation, he needs Preibus. But Trump doesn’t think rationally, so we’ll see.
I hope you’re right. I hope there is something that will spur the GOP in congress to stop putting party before country.
@tiffany short of a miracle, self preservation will be their motive. if it is also good for the country, so be it.
Tiffany, neither party puts the country before the party. Both care about their own power above any ordinary people.
Demented – nobody in Congress has a halo and angel wings, but my experience over the past few decades has been that the Democrats aren’t the same level of risk to our civil liberties and helpful programs that the Republicans have been. Maybe it’s the greater diversity in the modern Democrats, maybe it’s just that their main base of support benefits from diverse government programs and knows it (I don’t think Trump supporters, for example, fully understood which programs helped them until the guy started dismantling them) and don’t respond positively to the Republican idea of destroying the government (which has been a major thrust of Republicans at least starting with Reagan, but long before that they initially pushed against Social Security and Medicare also I think). The Democrats seem less focused and organized about any attacks on civil liberties so they are easier to fight when it happens.
Even rich Democrats seem to maintain a better understanding of how it was to be non-rich, even if only through stories their parents told them about their own non-rich days. It’s not unusual for a congenitally rich Democrat to be a strong proponent of programs that help low-income people. People who become rich often seem to switch from Democrat to Republican, and the Republicans do seem to focus on programs that help rich people (particularly regarding taxes). I’m sure there are exceptions, but the trend seems real.
When I was much younger, Republicans also were a more diverse group (read up on Mark Hatfield, for example), but that changed somewhere along the way. The Republican Party does seem to attract higher income people in particular and seems paler than the general population.
And the Republicans themselves seem to think that lower income voters are most likely to vote for Democrats, explaining their frequent attempts in the distant past to block voter registration in poorer neighborhoods or among young people. They assume that younger and poorer voters will not vote Republican. It was really awful back then, becoming a deputy registrar with Republican incumbents was a hazardous job. Now registration has calmed down, but it seems to be Republicans who are working hard at other types of voter suppression and purging voter rolls. You would think any incumbent would worry about new voters, but it’s the Republicans who show the most anxiety about that.
Gerrymandering is a bipartisan sport, though, so drawing district lines really needs to be taken out of the hands of the incumbents of any political stripe.
Chaffetz was on CBS a few minutes ago mealymouthing around.
Just as long as he gets to sell off all the national parks, Chaffetz wouldn’t care if Trump claimed Obama held satanic rituals with human sacrifices in the Oval Office.
It’s pathetic. Republicans rhapsodize about how they’re the true patriots, and that left-wingers are destroying the fabric of the U.S., yet this crap proves that all Republicans care about is the party, and not the nation. America is hemorrhaging, and Republicans are doing all they can to protect their asses rather than the livelihoods of the people living in the country, or the country’s reputation. As long as THEY’RE in power, everything’s fine.
Ryan is too concerned about his plan to dismantle our healthcare system and deny healthcare to people with pre-existing conditions, kids, the self-employed, the elderly, and the poor to be concerned with Trump.
Many snowflakes make an avalanche, just saying.
This guy is a ridiculously clueless monster. Time for him to go.
This unhinged lunatic…
Did this man baby stomp his feet while demanding an investigation?
DONALD TRUMP IS CRAZY. He went from disgusting asshole to complete looney bin. This man is so crazy it makes Kanye West look tamed. This is not putting things likely when comparing Kanye West to a tamed stuff toy. Donald Trump went from 0-100 real quick when it comes to CRAZY.
He will be impeached SOON and I hope this is time as at shortest term a POTUS.
Malignant Narcissism + Early Alzheimers (?) + huge stress = incredibly fast meltdown.
My friend gave him 2 months before being taken out of the White House in a straitjacket. I’m hopeful.
Well, at least this may convince journalists like Van Johnson to hold back a wee bit before declaring that Trump has become “Presidential” just because he managed to keep the rage contained and avoided insulting anybody for 60 minutes.
Presidential enough for you now, Mr. Johnson?
Another day, another diversion tactic from Trump. The bigger question should be what is he diverting attention from this time?
Exactly.
I think we all know exactly what he’s diverting attention from. Check the first word of your screen name. 😉
LOL
Shambles you are great😀
Sessions, perjury, Russia.
If something like that happened, it means there was enough evidence for a FISA warrant. For a judge to allow a FISA warrant on Donald means that there must be a lot of circumstantial evidence.
Here’s a trump supporter:
http://twitter.com/funder/status/838502375195279360
And here’s another one:
http://twitter.com/zac_petkanas/status/838522440036798464
They must be so proud of themselves. I honestly can’t imagine being so ignorant, so callous, as to behave this way.
“Thank you Russia” – America is turning into Russia 2.0 and it’s quite intersting that these people would have no problem to live under a dictatorship.
Omg, those Trumpsters are nuts.
Wow, can you imagine living your life so filled with hate and paranoia? What a pathetic existence.
Right? Seriously, who/what do his supporters like? They’ve boycotted everything from Star Wars to Oreos to Target.
In the words of Patton Oswalt, “you are going to miss everything cool and die angry”.
I suspect it will be a different world for them, too, once they have genuine reasons to believe that people want to hurt them as is likely in the developing Fascist States of America.
Hey I might be thanking Russia, if this shit is enough to get Trump impeached.
Here, here.
Guess if I was baby faced man that could only grow a pencil stache I would hate the world as well. What a loser.
Ya know, I’m beginning to think this whole “Carolina Conspiracy” may have a bit of merit to it.
A reductive summary of the theory: Russia hacked Anthony Weiner’s computer (and catfished him), then “placed” Huma’s emails, obtained from DNC hack, on his computer. Since the alleged “girl” in the Weiner catfish was underage, it triggered a mandatory investigation. Comey’s hands were tied and had to release letter to house (which was then leaked), because of the nature of the alleged crime. (FISA investigations, otoh, must be kept under wraps.) Because remember, Comey was the one who worked overtime to clear those Weiner charges — but it was too late. And remember, no charges were ever brought against Weiner — not even from the underage girl’s family who Weiner allegedly “spoke” to on that app.
So, imagine that is the big “hack” that the Trump camp knew about — maybe even encouraged? Which, clearly, is collusion on an epic scale.
I know, I know — it sounds crazy. But conspiracy theories sometimes have a grain of truth to them. Plus, “honeypots” are a standard Russian tactic.
This conspiracy makes some sense. Recall, DT was warning that Weiner might have access to Huma’s emails, a whole year before this happened. When the whole thing went down before the election, I thought it was more than coincidence that DT had been so prescient.
Meanwhile, Wikileaks is back to doing Satan’s bidding again, Tweeting about how Obama admin/WH ordered wiretapping on their journalists. They’re not even pretending to be bipartisan or doing it for the good of the people anymore. It’s blood-curdling.
I believe that our intelligence services have said that Wikileaks is now just the mouthpiece for the Russians. This needs to be said everywhere so that Wikileaks has absolutely no credibility.
Well that is true–Obama LOVED his wiretaps and I don’t think anyone would argue with that. But presumably, the Obama administration were wiretapping because they thought someone was leaking intel that could lead to a national security threat.
I’m surprised that anyone would think that Assange doesn’t have a personal agenda. He HATES Hillary as much if not moreso than Putin does.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/us/politics/assange-timed-wikileaks-release-of-democratic-emails-to-harm-hillary-clinton.html?_r=0
Assange is a piece of sh*t as far as I’m concerned.
I’m convinced that DT really believes he’s a victim here.
And I’m convinced his supporters are deranged. They swallow his nonsense like it’s chicken soup for the racist soul.
Trump heard that from some ranting right wing nut job and repeated it.
See my links above and “deranged” is putting it mildly.
A special prosecutor should be brought in under the pretense of looking at Emperor Zero’s claims of wire tapping but they should instead be investigating him instead.
Bwahahaha!
To help me get through my day, I just need to say:
LIAR LIAR DIAPER ON FIRE!
Money laundering, I suspect, is the real story that is starting to get legs.
Totally.
I’m wondering if rolling back anti-money laundering regulations is an ultimate goal.
How easy it would be to slide something in a larger package of regulation easing (which financial institutions do want, to a certain degree — but not necessarily BSA/AML related ones, because those are in place for good reason).
Even if that’s not the end-goal (rolling back anti-laundering laws), although it very well may be part of the goals, evidence of money laundering would be enough to take him down. Or is it? I’m surprised though that he was previously fined for money laundering with his casino in Atlantic city (someone upthread posted about this.) How did we let such a crook become our Pres. and shouldn’t there be some threshold for running for Pres, like maybe, not committing crimes!? Oh I forgot, that’s why Hillary lost – Donny said she’s a criminal.
Yes, I think this will be what brings him down, finally. Well, that and “a little bit of treason.”
Every time this story comes up, I think about George Bluth on Arrested Development “I may have committed some light treason…”
Congress has the ability to review his tax returns. They just need to be pressured to use it.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/11/1632589/-New-Jersey-congressman-invokes-1924-tax-law-giving-Congress-power-to-examine-Trump-s-tax-returns
THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENSE! Members of the Trump administration have may have consulted with the Russian Ambassador ,so Trump makes up a new “fact” to distract the public and the media from the real issue. Notice that now we’re reading about his latest lie rather then the more serious issue of colluding with the Russian government.
Correction- they DO know what they need to do, they just WON’T.
That Congress is all too willing to investigate a completely unsubstantiated story that some right wing hack rag made up, but not the allegations that actually have proof says oceans about how deep all this shiz goes.
We are an international embarrassment and there are a great number of places probably enjoying epic levels of schadenfreude right now.
I FEEL LIKE I’M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!
And now the WH has replaced Kellyanne with Mike Huckabee’s daughter and she’s just a useless as her predecessor. She was on GMA trying to spew lies, but thankfully George S. was calling her out on her BS.
I am just waiting for Trump to start quoting Alex Jones as his news source…i mean it has to happen right?? Oh and Trump business totally has russian loan money…i mean cmon it has to at this point..distract distract misdirection…SQUIRREL
I’m just disgusted and that is a mild term to use to express my feelings, because no words are apt to describe how I feel with this latest deflectgate and libelous claims on Obama. No apology no amount of oh so and so told me or I saw it in the news can cover for this insanity. What is wrong with the Republicans are they that desperate for their agenda and party to be ahead that they’ve been a co-acessory to dismantling this country right by right, and made us a joke of the world, we are a laughing stock and it’s not even funny any longer. There is a rumor he will fire Priebus or Spicer, but there is no coming back from what he did and this is gone beyond out of hand. Of course Congress would want to waste time investigating a wire tap that did not happen per the NSA guy and FBI guy you can only get that if FISA agrees and has to be substantiated. I wish it would lead to his ties with Puttycakes who they say he owes at least 54 million to his whole cabinet has collooded with them. Puttycakes knows now that Cheetoloonietunes cannot do a thing for him or sanctions so he’s going to start collecting the shame of this when Cheetoloonietunes goes down he’s taking a lot of people down with him, his brand will no longer be wanted or buyable or associatable, and his children will all suffer with him because once you’re blackballed so are they and I do feel somewhat sympathy for the grandkids and Barron because he only cares about him, his money, and his no good name. The republicans are crap and useless they should be ashamed of their lack of actions and will be a joke along with him.
You have to keep this in context: IF this were true, it would be the single largest abuse of executive power EVER in US history – it would surpass Nixon. The very idea that Trump feels comfortable making such an accusation is troubling. Congress is now in a bind – do they call for an investigation and play into his paranoia?
To me, this is also evidence of how genuinely BAD Trump is at this job – he just gave a speech that was overall fairly well-received by most Americans, he was finally getting some praise from the press – he could have built on that and pressed forward with his agenda, and instead he decides to backslide into conspiracy theories. Just more evidence of how out of his depth he is.
It’s not true….it’s just more lies and deflection from Trump and his minions.
IF it’s true, and that is not likely, Obama would have placed the wiretap legally. You have to remember, Obama is an attorney, an intelligent man, and one who understood his job. Throughout his tenure, he was under extreme pressure and opposition, do you truly think he would have left himself open to this type of potential controversy? I don’t. No way. The best these scumbags could come up with was the birth certificate crap, I’m not saying Obama was perfect, but he was most definitely a competent professional.
But he is expressly alleging that Obama placed the wiretap to screw with the election – which, if true, would be the single largest abuse of presidential power in history. The Obama camp is being very careful with their words – they are saying that no executive official ordered the tap – but they’re not denying one existed. In some bizarre way, Trump is doing himself a favor – he’s leaking his own bad news in order to get out in front of it. Now, you’ll have a whole segment of the population believing that Obama used the FBI or another agency to try to ruin Trump. I believe Trump to be an absolute moron, but he’s actually bumbling his way into the lead with this, which I find amazing in a very sad way.
Trump is not “leading” with anyone except his hardcore supporters.
If he was winning in any fashion he would have had more than a handful or two of supporters show up at the rallies that went down this weekend. People are starting to turn on him.
Kitten: I disagree. Rallies don’t mean much – have you already forgotten the lessons from November? Trump won by banking on the fact that public displays of support were not indicative of actual support, and he rode that theory right into the White House. After his speech last week, CNN was showing that over 70% of Americans who watched it came away with a more positive view of him – that’s not nothing. I think the people using rallies as indications of support are largely holding onto hope at this point. There is also another poll showing that a majority of Americans support the travel bans. I think you are a wee bit too hopeful just yet.
And there just weren’t any gains for Obama or the Democrats that would warrant the huge personal risk of even asking appropriate agencies to consider a wiretap (the Prez does not have the power to order one). Obama kept quiet about real info about the Russian connections of the Trump campaign to avoid the appearance of trying to unfairly influence the election. He could have gone with what he had if he really wanted, no messing around with dubious surveillance of a political opponent.
As Tiffany said above – his people and possibly Trump himself were sometimes talking with people whose calls were monitored, so that’s how the Feds got transcripts of some of their conversations. The NSA also monitors overseas calls or at least they used to do that, so they might have a blanket warrant. The server in Trump Tower connected with Russia’s Alpha Bank might be subject to a warrant also, so if Trump’s people used that for e-mail to Russia then the Feds have those also. But the Trump people were not the original targets of surveillance.
If it is NOT true, isn’t it also an epic abuse of power for the sitting President to go after someone directly without evidence?
I agree, this does illustrate that he is horrible at his job. He is too unhinged to have strategy. He could have built on the only moment of goodwill he has had in the past two months. He’s a fool.
As Morning Joe said “IF THIS DID HAPPEN?” They might as well go out and say that “IF George W. Bush helped O.J. Simpson kill Nicole Brown,” that would be the biggest scandal of all time. “IF Barack Obama had something to do with JonBenet Ramsey’s death,” that would be the biggest political scandal of all time. I mean, “IF.” … There is no evidence … nor will there EVER be any evidence that Barack Obama, himself, ordered the tapping of Donald Trump’s phones in Trump Tower.”
Trump has finally lost all credibility with both his Republican congressional apologists and our international allies with this smear of Obama. Even Rubio threw him under the bus on Sunday. People might support his policies but they will never believe any “fact” coming out of his mouth or tweet again.
I wonder if the pressures of the job, and the relative isolation of the White House are putting further cracks in DT’s fake facade of sanity. I think he loves being a celebrity, not necessarily being the President. He was incredibly ill prepared for the job and has shown no interest in learning. This garbage about accusing Obama needs to be investigated, and Russia will follow. I think that if Cheetolini starts to believe that he’ll be impeached he’ll resign in some spectacular fashion.
Sounds about right. Yesterday someone tweeted that Trump wasn’t having a breakdown, that this is how he’s always been. But I tend to think it’s gotten worse since he took office and the responsibilities and pressures set in for real. He is in no way equipped to handle it and I could see that it would cause him to start unraveling.
There are a number of factors at play here: deflection & distraction from Russia, The dismantling of American regulations against banking and the environment, Trump’s finances and taxes. It’s a never ending rabbit hole. We may be witnessing the disintegration of American democracy as we know it.
The other issue that I think is happening here is the continuation of the plan to destroy Barack Obama not only politically, but personally. It’s glaringly apparent that Trump and many Republicans/Tea Party folks HATE Obama. Obama, as a half black man, had the audacity to run and become President. He must be made to pay for that.
Trump Aims To Destroy Obama Politically And Personally
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-aims-not-just-to-destroy-obamas-legacy-but_us_58bc742ae4b0fa65b844b4db?ptgzd7ise9phaug14i
Trump is jealous of Obama’s popularity. He has always been jealous of him.
I think Barack and Michelle are having a laugh at trump’s incompetence and meltdown.
http://people.com/politics/barack-michelle-obama-seen-out-wiretapping/
I agree. He knows he doesn’t measure up to Obama in any way and he can’t stand it. He’s such a petty, immature narcissistic child.
I also read on Wonkette recently that virtually every member of his Cabinet has ties to Russia in some way. Let’s face it, just the fact that he refuses to release his taxes shows that he has serious stuff to hide. And I’m disgusted by the GOP for putting Party above Country and enabling Trump. All the stuff they are pushing through is all about more money for billionaires at the expense of the people and the planet. It’s disgusting!
I really hope everything that he’s hiding comes out and that heads roll. Imo, the election was not legal and he should never have been allowed to take office without a full and independent investigation. The problem is that it’s hard to find anyone that will be honest enough to investigate! Look at the Oversight Committee saying they don’t see any conflicts of interest worth investigating? I’m like WFT?!!!! Are you blind?!!!
More people spontaneously turned up to see Obama at an NYC coffee shop than turned out for March 4 Trump. It must kill Trump’s massive ego to see how loved Obama is and how despised he is.
Ever since that White House correspondents dinner 2011, Trump has been angry at Obama.
Abbess Tansy, yes. What Trump needed to get over it was therapy, not a run for the presidency.
Cheeto Mussolini is, at his core, an incredibly insecure man child, and every time he’s ever lashed out at Obama over the years, I felt it was rooted in jealousy. Obama is everything Cheeto secretly wishes he was – intelligent, popular, respected, effective, and self made – and he had the gall to do all that while not being a privileged white man handed money by his daddy.
For anyone upset that Emperor Zero supporters continue to believe him, don’t forget that 10s of them marched this weekend in support of him.
A shrinking support group is a telling sign that the GOP might be willing to turn on Diaper Bigly.
I can’t wait for him to be impeached or thrown in jail and wake those 10’s of people up and realize we were correct
They will never believe it. He will become a martyr, and frighteningly, it may lead us to even bigger problems with that large and brainless faction of our populace.
One of those 10 turned up in armor at a pro-Scrotus rally here in California, he was wearing a black helmet, black chest armor, goggles, a face mask, with a shield emblazoned with the American flag, and had a very large baton to beat people with. The flag of Texas was on the front of his chest armor. In a surprising turn of events, the rally became violent.
The low turnouts aren’t unexpected. The draw for Trump’s rallies has always been Trump himself. He’s entertaining, it’s interactive theater. There may not be enough deep support for his policies to get people to a support event without the main attraction.
Taking away the attention of the obvious PERJURY from Sessions….
This is all based on right wing news sources….these are the sources the President of the US bases his facts on. He believes right wing news sources before he’ll believe his own intelligence agencies. We are all standing on shaky ground here. Presidents don’t have the authority to order wiretaps. Does anyone truly believe Obama would risk his future on doing such a thing? It’s a insult to Obama’s integrity to state such a lie. When it comes to morals and whose the more believable person, Obama wins a million times over Trump.
By targeting Obama like this, Trump is taking a play from the authoritarian rulers playbook. Go after your predecessor and always play the victim
Today’s WorldView
BY ISHAAN THAROOR
BY ISHAAN
“The reason why the fact-checking mechanism in these societies does not work is because polarization is so high that no one believes what the other camp is saying,” wrote Zeynalov. “If CNN or the New York Times claims that Trump is lying, they’re immediately branded as dishonest liberal media.”
That has indeed become the default response of the Trump administration in its short time in power. An editorial this past week in German newsweekly Der Spiegel delved into how such tactics eventually lead to a divided and befuddled public: “The effect of all of this is that truth and lies are being blurred, the public is growing disoriented and, exhausted, it is tuning out.”
Presidents can and do wiretap, ever heard of the Patriot Act? Since 2011 our rights have been infringed upon by our government, and everyone should be aware of it, so the wiretap is not the issue, so much as IF the wiretap was placed was it done legally, and the answer to that would be yes. Obama was not stupid. Any wiretaps under his watch would have been placed legally.
He’s not even looking that Marine in the eyes as he salutes. He always looks so sour and pissed off.
The chin-jutting semi-pout nauseates me. Like a geriatric toddler told he can’t have ice cream til he eats his carrots. I think trump thinks it looks manly.
Judging from Trump’s colouring, I’d assume he eats a load of carrots.
My mom used to make me eat carrots because they were good for my eyes and I would see great when I ate them. Yuck. If he ate lots of carrots, he’d see that he is making a ridiculous mess. He’d see that telling BS lies is the wrong thing to do. Maybe eating lots of pumpkins is what gives him that orange skin color
Raw carrots with peanut butter will change your opinion of the veg forever. I never particularly liked them cooked, mushy doesn’t work well for carrots. Crunchy and slathered with peanut butter is their destiny.
Yes, I noticed his state of rage as he gave his petulant disrespectful salute. He really is a psycho.
Trump’s salutes always look fake to me, like play-acting. I think Reagan (an actor!) started saluting people. Reagan was always on stage, and so is Trump.
Besides, we deliberately have a civilian commander-in-chief for very good reasons. When the President goes overboard on military salutes, it denies that strong tradition.
I hate this guy so much.
I plan to live long enough to dance on his grave.
I will go through many bottles of champagne on that day!
Frustrating to see him still have supporters! My 10 year old nephew asked about the wiretaps and why Trump keeps coming to Florida. I said it had no evidence and his vacations were costing millions. My parents walked in yelling at me for lying. They said Trump was doing great and I should give him a chance and how Obama was the one always on vacation wasting millions. And Trump was paying for security in NYC at Trump Tower, not taxpayers . I’m ashamed my parents who both get ssi and Medicare could be so foolish and stupid
Oh no, I feel your pain. I have learned not to talk politics at all with my parents. Which has made things really hard since Nov, I feel like I’m becoming increasingly distant because I can’t talk about what’s really bothering me. Anyway, this weekend we had a family party and my 17 year old son brought up something about the travel ban and I just closed my eyes and hoped a confrontation wouldn’t ensue. My dad is hard of hearing and didn’t catch it and my mom brushed it off and changed the subject pretty quickly. Thankfully!
Beth- so glad my parents aren’t Trumpsters. I’d be so unhappy right now. How can anyone deny the facts of how much DT’s trips to FL are costing? And it’s a fact that taxpayers are footing his security bills at Trump tower and Mar a Lago. If this wasn’t true, Trump would be screaming about it. Notice he isn’t.
Ugh, I’ve dealt with young children who support Trump and don’t realize how dangerous he is. I had a 9-year-old tell me that he “knows more about politics” than I do, and tell me that Trump is “such a nice man”, and that “Obama’s a disaster”. I asked the kid why he thinks he knows more about politics than I do, as someone who’s 30 and has voted, and he said, “because I watch TV!” Like, I’ve never ever wanted to raise a hand to a child, but this kid’s snottiness made it really hard for me not to justify doing so.
That’s so frustrating, this is how our divide is perpetuated. I remember during the 2008 election, my kids were around 7 and 8 and the teachers were SO careful to be neutral and present both sides. Most parents supported that so discussions were always civil on the playground. I’ve always been careful not to talk to my kids carefully about why I do and do not support a candidate and never use hateful rhetoric. It was really hard with Trump, luckily they considered him a joke so I didn’t have to pretend he was a viable choice.
But more and more it seems like parents encourage the political rhetoric among their kids, I’ve heard more than a few stories like yours. It’s crazy to me that people won’t give kids a chance to develop their opinions on their own.
I blame the parents, what kind of demented parents allow their children’s minds to be so polluted at age 9? That is sick. Children need to be protected from disgusting people not indoctrinated into their cults of personality.
Ugh! My 15 year old nephew claims to know more about politics than me also.I’m 38, I know more than he does! He says Trump is awesome and then says “grab ’em by the p*ssy” while laughing loudly. He doesn’t want to listen to the facts. Their mom (my sister) is sooo anti-Trump like me, but doesn’t want to talk about it to her kids. He must be getting the “Trump is awesome ” opinion from kids at school, hearing my parents, or just thinking it’s funny. When he says “crooked Killary”, “lock her up” , and the filthy quotes about women, race, and disabled he’s heard, I give him a little smack. Hideous that not only adults,but teenagers and children hear the president and his supporters say these things. I’m trying my hardest to get him to take this all seriously. Thankfully his 10 year old brother is listening to me and is seeing how bad Trump is. I love them more than anything and don’t want them to see this as a joke
Just keep confronting them. Honestly. If I know I’m right about something and I have my facts I remain calm but I don’t accept untruths and false facts. I mean, really, what is there to lose? They’re your parents and assuming they’re relatively normal, they’re not going to disown you for it. I just had this happen yesterday at the in-laws house. One of them made a “Crooked-Hillary” jab and I said, “Oh yeah, what did she do that was crooked?” She replied and I said “That isn’t true. There is no evidence to support what you’re saying.” If you remain calm and just keep refuting eventually it shuts people up. The thing is, when people mouth off about Trump and Hillary they generally don’t have facts to back up their emotional statements. So if you remain as unemotional as possible and just keep questioning them, their arguments usually fall flat pretty quickly.
You know, while I’ve always thought Trump was incompetent, I now think he’s truly delusional. In my world, if you discover your phones are tapped, what that means is that you are in big big trouble and the FBI/CIA have enough to jump through all the hoops you have to jump through to make it so. Saying Obama did it is a lie that meant to distract from his impending doom. If he actually had the capacity to reason and figure out that he’s behind the eight ball, he’d keep his mouth shut. I knew when he started saying that he didn’t trust the FBI & the CIA they were going to come for him, and come for him they did.
I have been following elections for the presidency since LBJ. I have never in my life spelt so much anxiety or what is going on in this country. Republicans and Democrats have been elected over and over and this is the most unrest my friends and I have felt. DT was not qualified from jump street. He was pushed by lots of outside factors, eg. Lots of people did not want a woman in the highest office here. Russia hacked the DNC in favor DT. The emails was a drip, drip, drip every day. This turned voters off of Hillary, which was unfair because the voters had nothing from DT email to compare to what they knew about Hillary. The media kept saying how much Hillary was disliked and a crook, not mentioning that DT was more disliked and was a crook. Remember Trump University? He settled the case for $25m. The press just poo pooed it.
Now he has this Bannon guy in the White House talking about he’s a Lennonist and he wants to deconstruct the US government and wants to bring everything crashing down. This is the man DT is listening to. He’s in Puton’s pocket deep. His daughter had Wendy Ming, sp over her house last weekend, she’s Puton’s girlfriend. I believe this web of lies will be getting bigger and bigger. I hope DT don’t take all of us down with him.
Yesterday I was listening to MSNBC and one of the commutators said something that made a lot of sense to me. He said if the stock market was not doing so well DT followers would not be sticking with him this long. I totally believe because the economy is great they are putting their party over their country, what a shame.
An unfortunate mortality rate.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-diplomats-deaths-theories-putin-kremlin-a7602201.html
Tweets from
Vicente Fox Quesada @VicenteFoxQue
A “so-called” President is calling a real President and true leader: bad and sick guy. What a shame, America you need to do something now!.
Vincente Fox has been hilarious on the topic of anything Trump
I know, it’s beautiful. His dismissiveness of “the wall” is the best.
He’s been awesome. #f–kinwall
So if they find out election was rigged do they impeach or fire him and hold a new election it’s not fair if Pence becomes president for a rigged election he didn’t earn it. Either way kick Trump out the USA we have enough crap here deport vet him.
The next presidential election will be in November 2020. The only thing that would change that would be a complete overthrow of the government or a constitutional amendment.
Actually, there is some precedent for challenging a Veep, the Constitution was not written to support the transfer of power from an elected president to his chosen running mate and the 25th amendment was accepted in 1967. The departing president nominates his Veep and then Congress has to ratify the choice. Pence is not a slam dunk by any means for them.
I’d be glad to see Pence go down too, but my gut feeling is he’s not in as deep with all this stuff, and the GOP establishment will do everything in their power to insulate and protect him.
He’s horrible, but I don’t think he’ll start WWIII, and I think he’d be a lot easier to beat in 2020 because the GOP will be pretty fractured.
Sounds like trump and his co-conspirators are raking it in from China, also.
http://twitter.com/khanoisseur/status/836752866010267648
This is so embarrassing. I’ve never been one to trust the government but good night, everyone is out to lunch! Bumbling doofuses and spies in the Whitehouse. Just embarrassing.
So-called president and p*ssygrabber Donald Trump cried Wolf so many times no one anywhere can trust him or consequently America. Sad. Dangerous.
WTF? How is it a thing that the president of your country makes his accusations via twitter to the general public rather than going through the proper channels? I can’t remember witnessing something so colossally stupid in my entire life. Those neurosyphilis rumours are starting to sound more and more plausible.
This is just a shell game. “Aw shucks” Sessions had to fess up to some Russian meetings so trump tries tries to deflect. Sorry, we are on to you.
His election and conduct are concrete proof that the American government has fatal flaws about conflict of interests, when the Senate and Congress have a single majority. I wonder how other countries prevent this.
This is all another deflection/distraction to the Russia story. And it proves he doesn’t know how the government works.
@Jodi
It proves he (or Bannon) knows his audience/supporters. They don’t know or care about how the government works. I believe it’s Trump, himself, knowing his audience and playing to them. He believes that, either, this distraction will work in the long-run (quash the Russia investigations into him), or, he’s scared shitless. I don’t think he’s aware/smart/humble enough to be scared, just angry.
Not only is it a deflection, it’s slander. This is all he does. He pounds his tiny baby fists and throws out baseless accusations. He’s unfit for the presidency.
Sick of the MSM always taking the bait. CONCENTRATE on Sessions and his lies and the Russian ties to everyone in Trump’s circle. Stop falling for the deflections. Geez, do your job. This current pack of journalists is pathetic.
Question. Unless I suppose there is some sort of criminal investigation, can Trump be forced to make his tax returns public? It seems that this would be a given way to get him out of office.
Do nothing.
He MADE IT UP. Its all LIES.
He is trying to distract from his abject failures in office and treasonous activity with Russia.
Stay on the money.
SHAME SHAME SHAME on our congressman they are like mini Cerseis. They need a kick in the rear for their cowardice and kissing a dictatorship orange behind!
Another WTF moment (or, rather, ohmyfuckinggod)…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants_us_58bdbf1fe4b033be1467634f?dyi5ynuc15gclerk9&
Trump is once again displaying his clearly delusional thinking. In addition, he is obviously unable to figure out the correct manner in which to conduct himself in the office of POTUS. Trump never bothered to contact any of his own intelligence officials about this alleged wiretapping before going public with unsupported accusations.
This time it is wiretapping, last time it was 3 million illegal voters, and before that it was 1.5 million inauguration attendees on a non-rainy day.
I have emailed both of my Senators and my House Representative requesting they look into implementing Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. This would be a lot quicker than impeachment.
I believe Donald Trump is ill. I believe he is suffering from a certain type of dementia.
It is time for those who represent us to find out what is going on with POTUS.
I read this and posted it on my FB page. A supposedly intelligent man saying something like this! UGH!
What’s even sadder is that Ben Carson, the formerly brilliant neurosurgeon, gave an explanation of memory that was just plain wrong in practically all its aspects. I think Ben had a neurological event (maybe a small stroke) that caused some brain damage. He seems like a sweet guy but not all there. He started making simple mistakes and was getting sued for malpractice, my bet is that is what pushed him into retirement.
Trump is propably refering to this:
The online magazine Slate had published an article at the end of October about mysterious pings that had been detected between a Russian bank, Alfa, and a server connected to the Trump organisation, but the New York Times quoted FBI officials as saying they had looked into it and decided there “there could be an innocuous explanation” for the computer contacts.
On the eve of the November election, ex British MP/Journalist Louise Mensch published a sensational story reporting that a special intelligence court in Washington had granted a warrant to allow the FBI to conduct surveillance of “US persons” in an investigation of possible contacts between Russian banks and the Trump organisation. This was the second occasion that they had applied for one, the first time it was denied. At the time, the story did not cause much of a ripple.
Two months later, however, the BBC put out a story echoing Mensch’s original report about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) court warrant issued in October to allow the justice department to look into transfers and communications between the Russian banks and Trump associate – and that US intelligence agencies were investigating the link.
The Guardian separately confirmed the original request for a Fisa warrant, which had been turned down earlier in the summer, and former officials said they believed that the Mensch and BBC account of the Fisa warrants was correct.
In mid-January, the McClatchy news agency said one of its sources had also confirmed the report, and the New York Times’ public editor, Liz Spayd, published an assessment of its coverage of the Trump-Moscow link on 20 January, arguing that it had been “too timid”. The Times, Spayd argued, “knew several critical facts: the FBI had a sophisticated investigation under way on Trump’s organization, possibly including Fisa warrants”.
So it seems that there was indeed wire tapping going on, probably not on Obama’s orders but it’s pretty hard to believe he didn’t know about it or wasn’t pleased that it was happening. Don’t believe a President can’t order a wire tap, he can invoke the patriot act at will……Snowdon blew the whistle on that one. I find it interesting that Obama himself has not said anything on this, only his representatives. He can likely truthfully say he did not order wire taps but if asked did he know about them he might have to give a different answer.
It’s just that Trump cries wolf so often it’s hard to believe that he may actually be telling the truth sometimes .
trump doesn’t get information from legitimate news sources, only from breitbart and his Nazi advisors. President Obama is not going to engage in a pissing match with an insane man. We’re all aware of the reports that came out last Fall. They were discussed here IIRC. Otherwise, thanks for your windy defense of the donald.