The Barr memo isn’t the Mueller report

I wanted to hold off on posting anything about the Mueller report until we actually had it in front of us. It’s looking now as though that may be several weeks away, in spite of the fact that members of the House voted unanimously to make it public. It would appear as though the White Hose doesn’t want it to come out anytime soon, regardless of what Trump may say in public. While he may say, “Let people see it,” when asked by the press, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and others have been working feverishly behind the scenes to block its release, knowing that, until it sees the light of day, and people can read for themselves what Mueller has written, they can keep yelling “total exoneration” without fear of being fact-checked.

The truth is, the President has not been “totally exonerated.” Far from it… While it’s true that Special Counsel Robert Mueller did deliver his final report to the Attorney General William Barr, no one outside of Barr’s office has yet to read it. And all that any of us have to go on right now is Barr’s four-page summary of the report’s findings, which, by the way, includes the following quote from Robert Mueller; “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

So, “total exoneration”? Not really… With that said, though, it would appear that Mueller’s team will be issuing no further indictments. Furthermore, it would appear as though Mueller did not feel as though there was enough evidence to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that members of the Trump administration “conspired or coordinated” with the Russians in their now well-documented efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. This, of course, doesn’t mean that members of the Trump team didn’t court the Russians, and go so far as to set up meetings with them when they promised dirt on Hillary Clinton, and later lie about said activities. It would seem, however, there wasn’t ultimately enough, in the opinion of the Special Counsel, to secure a conviction.

And this is why we need to see the Mueller report, in which, we’ve been told, the Special Counsel and his team have laid out the evidence on both sides. [Write to your elected officials and demand the report be made public.] While it may be true that, in the end, there wasn’t enough evidence to secure a conviction, that doesn’t mean that we don’t deserve to know, for instance, what happened at the 2016 Republican Convention, when the Trump team changed the Republican Party platform to be more Russia-friendly. Clearly something was going on, and the American people have a right to know.

For what it’s worth, I don’t have reason to believe that Barr has purposefully misstated Mueller’s findings in his four-page summary. I do, however, think that, as a Trump appointee, he very likely stated things in such a way as to look more favorable for the President… thus giving members of the administration an opportunity to get ahead of the report, saying, for instance, that it definitively shows “no collusion,” when, in fact, it likely goes into great detail concerning the many unreported, and lied about, contacts between members of the Trump team and the Russians. [Let’s all remember that Barr got the role of Trump administration Attorney General by sending an unsolicited letter to the Justice Department essentially arguing that a sitting President of the United States cannot, by definition of the law, obstruct justice.]

If you want to get into the minutiae of what we’re seeing unfold, I’d encourage you to consult the Lawfare blog. Before you head over there, I just want to share a quote from former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who just appeared as a guest on the most recent episode of Pod Save America, which went into quite a bit of detail on why Mueller seemingly refused to weigh in on whether or not Trump obstructed justice. “Bob Mueller was punting to Congress because he didn’t want to make this ultimate decision,” Bharara said, “and Bill Barr came off the sidelines, caught the ball, and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown for Trump, which is not what Mueller was expecting.”

There are a lot of questions to be asked here… I can understand how it might be difficult to define and prosecute collusion, but why did Mueller just lay out the facts and punt to Congress on obstruction of justice, when other Special Counsels in the past have offered prosecutorial direction? [Firing James Comey for refusing to stop the investigation into Russian interference seems to be a pretty clear-cut case of obstruction.] Why did Barr step in to announce that he had determined there was “not sufficient (evidence) to establish” that Trump had committed obstruction, when it wasn’t his place to do so? [“The whole point of the special counsel was to (mostly) take the investigative and prosecutorial decisions away from the Trump appointees,” said Gregory Brower, a former top FBI official.] And, as Quinta Jurecic asks in The Atlantic, “To what extent was Barr’s decision —- and, for that matter, Mueller’s —- shaped by Barr’s aggressive view of the interaction between presidential authority and the obstruction statutes, under which an action definitionally cannot be obstructive if it is authorized under Article II of the Constitution? To what extent did that view mean that Barr wrote off presidential conduct that the FBI worried might be both obstructive and a benefit to Russia -— such as firing James Comey as FBI director?”

OK, so have you got all of that… Mueller demurred on obstruction. Barr usurped the role of Congress, announcing that charges wouldn’t be brought. And Donald Trump immediately went running into the stands, high-fiving people, screaming about “total exoneration” and the “very, very evil” and “treasonous things” that his enemies had done to him.

And it’s that last part that bothers me the most. As much as it bothers me to see Donald Trump taking this ridiculous, fictional victory lap, I don’t have any doubt that he’ll eventually be held to account for his actions. What concerns me is that, in the meantime, a lot of very bad things might happen. Today, emboldened by Barr’s letter, the Trumpists aren’t just demanding that the President be given an apology, but they’re saying that the people who supported the Special Counsel’s investigation should be made to pay a price. They’re calling for Democratic Representative Adam Schiff to to be removed from the House Intelligence Committee, and for new Department of Justice investigations to be be opened into Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the FBI. And they’re taking the opportunity to go after the press for “getting the Russia story wrong,” and demanding that they stop interviewing people who didn’t enthusiastically wave the “no collusion” banner over the past two years. Furthermore, they’re going on the offensive legislatively, again pushing for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and announcing the transfer of $1 billion from the Pentagon budget to the construction of Trump’s southern border wall… I could go on, but suffice it to say that we’re in for one hell of a fight, folks.

I should add that I’m under no illusion that the Mueller report will save us. While we deserve to know what it contains, and why the Special Counsel refused to make a determination as to whether or not Donald Trump had engaged in obstruction, I think it’s pretty clear that, if we’re going to defeat Trumpism, it’s going to have to be at the ballot box in 2020. No one else is going to do this for us.

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103 Comments

  1. Jim
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 6:02 am | Permalink

    I think Trump and DOJ intend to never release the Mueller report, not even to Congressional leaders. https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/03/donald-trumps-schedule-to-release-the-mueller-report-is-never/

  2. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 7:05 am | Permalink

    Aloha,
    Once Alice went down the rabbit hole she found it all so difficult to even want to leave.

    Liberals putting there faith in Republicans to do anything approaching the right thing is just insane. People want to forget that Rosenstein is a Republican, Mueller is a Republican, all the Congressional investigations up to the election were run by Republicans. Mueller has been nothing but a running dog for the Republicans. No one wants to remember the lies he told Congress during his 12 year tenure as FBI director. Mueller did exactly as expected of him in this kabuki theater. While the liberal elite try to find the bottom of the hole, they ignore the real problems in the country.

    Nancy Pelosie, took impeachment off the table in the hopes of the Mueller report–stupid Democrat move. As if violating the ennoblement clause of the constitution is not grounds. The venal self-dealing etc. Instead the Democrats with the corporate media wanted to make it all about “collusion”–Get over it Clinton lost the last election because she was a very weak candidate, not because of some stupid bait and click crap on Facebook.

    If Democrats want to topple Trump (instead of just having a whipping boy that makes them feel good) hammer away on the issues. Pelosie should direct the House Chaplin to begin every session of Congress with a prayer for the victims of climate change –Anyone remember our poor fellow citizens in Puerto Rico–made worse by Trumps with drawl from the Paris Accords. Have the Democrats bothered to censor Trump for withdrawing from the Intermediate Nuclear Treaty–no they seem to support the war mongering against the Russians. Instead of actually resisting the Trump agenda, they collaborate. Russiagate is the Democrats birthism and Maddow is their Glen Beck.

  3. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 7:51 am | Permalink

    Remember when you thought Comey violated FBI protocol? Now that you think you can get Trump for firing him I guess it is all magically wiped away. Can’t believe you are holding on to this idea even now.

    “I wasn’t going to mention the fact that F.B.I. Director James B. Comey sent a letter to members of Congress this past Friday, telling them that new evidence had surfaced pertaining to the agency’s investigation into the private emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This, as multiple news sources have since reported, was in clear violation of established agency protocol, which dictates that active cases not be commented on, a fact which was apparently explained to Comey by representatives of both Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. Director Comey, however, chose to send the letter anyway. While Comey informed his employees that the break in protocol was necessary, given that he’d testified recently that the investigation into Clinton’s email had been closed, it would appear that most impartial observers seem to think that he made this announcement when he did, just eleven days prior to the election, in hopes that it might adversely effect the Clinton campaign.”

  4. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 8:15 am | Permalink

    Soon it will just seem like a bad dream. Yes it’s horrifying while you’re in it, you’re startled when you wake up, but then you come back to reality.

    https://www.peteforamerica.com

  5. Eel
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 8:42 am | Permalink

    “Russiagate is the Democrats birthism and Maddow is their Glen Beck.”

    Perfect analogy, except for the fact that birtherism wasn’t real, and there’s plenty to suggest that Russia was assisting the Trump campaign. Otherwise, though, you’re spot on.

  6. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 8:46 am | Permalink

    Isn’t the important thing that we elect someone to replace him in 2020?

    Shouldn’t we be looking to the future ?

  7. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 8:52 am | Permalink

    This is very far from over. Traitors will bite it for trying to destroy the USA government. We are all going to have to deal with that. It’s not realistic to just be like “Wulp, glad that’s done. Now we can just move on to 2020!”

  8. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 8:57 am | Permalink

    Aloha Sad, Still trying to find out where Pete stands on issues. I go to his web site where I get to find out a little about him, but his site does not seem to have an issues page. Any suggestions about where I can find out his stand on regime change wars, climate change and health care.

    The Republican Senate voted down the Green New Deal. That should be on the top of our agenda. Between his disastrous tariffs and the 2nd thousand year flood in 20 years every farmer in Nebraska and Iowa should be hearing a constant stream from Democrats how it is Trump and Republican policies (not Russiagate) that is destroying their lives. Our solutions are at the ballot box, not some fantasy that Republicans in Congress with there kabuki theater investigations are going to do it for us.

    HW and his friends and allies are loving this. As long as the discussion is on Russia they do not have to defend the Republican policies of enriching their friends while impoverishing the rest of us. Saw today that the average tax return is 17% SMALLER than last year. I think demanding Republicans answer for that may resonate with voters more.

  9. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:05 am | Permalink

    Aloha, I will try to catch this live stream of Pete tomorrow.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLYm7FfElxM

  10. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:07 am | Permalink

    I see it’s back to the scattershot approach: just throw out all the anti-Trump ideas you can come up with and hope you get a hit.

    If you get your money up front then what is the problem? A twenty or thirty dollar a week raise like many people got adds up. More people qualified for refunds too.

    https://www.fool.com/taxes/2019/02/27/average-tax-refunds-plunge-17-but-trump-isnt-to-bl.aspx

  11. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:16 am | Permalink

    There’s a lot out there from mayor Pete Wobblie. Google him and start reading. Here’s one good introduction. He’s very critical of our global wars, pro healthcare for all and as a young person and mayor very aware of the threat of climate change. And he’s a Midwesterner like us. Do you remember where Trump won the last election?

    https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/pete_buttigieg-36-year-old-mayor-south-bend-indiana-2020-713662/

    HW has Trump come up with a nick name for Mr. Buttigieg yet? He most be terrified that he might have to face a real competitor.

  12. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:20 am | Permalink

    I’m sure the very name of “Mayor Pete” strikes terror into the President’s heart.

  13. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:27 am | Permalink

    Good.

    It should.

  14. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:30 am | Permalink

    Aloha HW, just curious how you feel about the chaos involving Trumps attempts to de-denuclearize Korea. His appointees are busy seemingly undermining his objectives. Here is an interesting article which describes Bolton reversing Trump (got to wonder who is in charge). Also N. Korea seems to be wanting to reach a solution because of the growing affects of climate change on N. Korean agriculture. Is Bolton in charge and if so do you support him?

    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/03/trump-tries-to-undo-north-korea-sanctions-gets-sabotaged-by-his-own-staff.html#more

  15. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:32 am | Permalink

    He sounds formidable: Mayor Pete hahahaha! I hope he is a good person. Your party (certain repubs included) needs the clean-up of all time.

  16. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:40 am | Permalink

    For once we’re in agreement HW.

    Mayor Pete represents a fresh start. Mr.Buttigieg hasn’t been shy about criticizing the current state of the Democratic Party. The 2018 elections brought in a lot of fresh faces. We’re moving forward.

  17. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:54 am | Permalink

    Climates do change but is there any doubt deforestation is the number one human cause?

    Looks to me like Trump has achieved something in North Korea that no one else could do. Remember it seemed we were on the cusp of war when he got into office. Now we have talks and no missiles flying. I’m not worried about Neocon John. President Trump is in full control. Sometimes when you are strong it is advantageous to appear weak and disorganized to your enemy. Art of War, Art of the Deal

  18. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:57 am | Permalink

    Aloha HW, did you read the article that the article you posted linked too? ” For example, a married couple with $100,000 in taxable income would have owed $16,307.50 under the old tax code. Under the new tax bracket structure, a couple with this income would owe $13,879, a savings of more than $2,400.” For your information the median US household income is $56,000, ie. 50% of household incomes in the US are under $56,000. If you look at the chart that accompanied that article you will see there was no change in the tax rates for those people earning under $38,000 and those who earned between that and $98,000 had there tax rate go UP by 3%.

    I guess since you are such a supporter of the tax changes you must be in the 20% of households that have incomes in excess of $100,000. As I keep repeating, make the Republicans defend their give aways to the rich and the kleptocracy they support.

  19. EOS
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:58 am | Permalink

    Can’t wait for the Mueller report to be released. It should include damning evidence about a number of Democrats. I think the reason for delay is to wait until after their arrests.

    Careful what you ask for.

    Boom.

  20. Marcy Wheeler by proxy
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:05 am | Permalink

    THE ROGER STONE INDICTMENT PROVES BARR’S MEMO UNDERSTATES TRUMP FLUNKIES’ COMPLICITY

    https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/03/27/the-roger-stone-indictment-makes-it-clear-barrs-memo-understates-trump-flunkies-complicity/

  21. John Brown
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:20 am | Permalink

    All Barrs cover up is doing is making impeachment mandatory. Dems are left no choice but to allow trumps treason, or impeach, subpeona Mueller, drag his Orange ass through the mud, where it belongs, for the next 16 months.

    Mayor Pete seems awesome. No doubt a “Pink Pistols” type of guy.

  22. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:23 am | Permalink

    I think President Trump would like for everyone to have the opportunity to make that kind of money. 100 grand between two people should be very normal considering how much value the dollar has lost. More plants coming to Michigan for example…

  23. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:25 am | Permalink

    Aloha HW, sounds like the same nonsense as Obama playing 3 dimensional chess.

  24. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:29 am | Permalink

    Didn’t Mark have a counter factual post not too long ago about how he thought the Trump team was “moving the goal posts on the collusion question”?

  25. anonymous
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:31 am | Permalink

    Sen. Susan Collins: “I’m very disappointed and deeply opposed to the administration seeking to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act.” http://hill.cm/XCGqWcy

  26. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:31 am | Permalink

    “Obama playing 3 dimensional chess.”

    Hm?

  27. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:32 am | Permalink

    Aloha HW, you evidently have not heard of Bosal Industies here in Ypsi. Laid off 50% of its production workers beginning of this month. Made exhaust systems for the Chevy Cruz in Lordstown–oh yeah that has also shut down. For the first time in 3 years the UAW has been having me put together Trade Readjustment Petitions for auto plants and suppliers who are shutting down.

    But you are right de-forestation is a contributor to global warming. You must have been opposed to his executive order he issued last December which ” instructs the secretaries of agriculture and interior to consider harvesting a total of 4.4 billion board feet of timber from forest land managed by their agencies on millions of acres, and put it up for sale. The order would translate into a 31 per cent increase in forest service logging since 2017. “

  28. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:38 am | Permalink

    Never heard of Bosal. Probably not as big of a deal as the new plants though, correct? How many were laid off?

  29. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:38 am | Permalink

    Aloha HW, yes it would be nice if every household made $100000. But they don’t. So again how does a 3% increase in income taxes on nearly 50% of US households a tax cut for most Americans? Instead of dealing with the facts and the issues you seem to want to run and hide behind rhetoric. Please explain how this is much different than running after phantom russian agents in the white house. Like I keep repeating, talk about the issues the Democrats might win. Oh, yeah have we got a new date for the unsealing of the indictments?

  30. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:41 am | Permalink

    EOS
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 9:58 am | Permalink
    “Can’t wait for the Mueller report to be released. It should include damning evidence about a number of Democrats. I think the reason for delay is to wait until after their arrests.
    Careful what you ask for.
    Boom.”

    What if they are demanding their own exposure right now? It makes me giddy to think of it. Look at these people trying to deflect attention from the criminal behavior against the President and all of us perpetrated by the ones they champion.

  31. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:44 am | Permalink

    If managed logging can prevent out of control wildfires perhaps it is wise.

  32. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:46 am | Permalink

    Aloha HW, layoffs are still happening. Lordstown alone 3700. The spill over to the 1st and 2n tier suppliers approx. 15,000. GM has decided to keep Detroit Hamtramck open for a few more months. Its closing will not affect quit as many (the suppliers worked for both Lordstown and Hamtrack) but will probably be about 10,000. The Warren Stamping and Pontiac Powertrain will also have significant layoffs, in the thousands. I don’t know how many in Baltimore, but probably in the thousands. So all told some where upwards of 30,000. The new FICA plant being talked about for Detroit won’t be opening for nearly a decade.
    Just so you know, 75% of all jobs created since 2008 have paid less than $50,000. So they all are feeling the effects of the Trump tax increase.

  33. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:50 am | Permalink

    Aloha HW and EOS, How quickly we forget that it was Republican John McCain and Lindsey Graham who gave the FBI the Steele dossier. That it was Trump who appointed Mueller and Rosenstein. The Democrats did not control a single element of the Government until this past January. This whole shit show of kabuki theater we have been witnessing has been brought to us by the GOP. That is the facts.

  34. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:02 am | Permalink

    McCain had nothing to do with Trump except that he was part of the plot to take him down. Both parties have dirty people.

  35. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:19 am | Permalink

    Mark, a few months ago, begged us to remember the central question is about russian collusion:

    “We need to keep reminding ourselves (and everyone we know) that, for the past two years, the Trump administration kept demanding that there was “no collusion,” and that Trump didn’t know about the Trump Tower meeting between members of his campaign and Russian agents. We need to keep sharing videos like this one, showing the extent to which they denied that there was any coordination with the Russians in the run up to the election. We can’t allow history to be rewritten.”

  36. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:22 am | Permalink

    I wonder why the many people on mm.com, who are inclined toward theory, are unable to come up with and explore a theory about how the russian collusion question could have began in the first place.

    Come on. You guys are smart and are not afraid to indulge in theory. Go for it!

  37. EOS
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:24 am | Permalink

    Still don’t see it’s the Dims who have been misled by Fake News?

    McCain was part of the Deep State. RINO.

    Mueller had an entire crew of Democratic lawyers trying to find evidence against Trump.

    The criminal activity and treasonous acts occurred during Obama’s watch. They promised Lynch a SC appointment if she looked the other way. Comey jumped in and announced Clinton should not be charged. Wasn’t his call. James Clapper and John Brennan left a paper trail of their illegal activities. They assumed that Clinton would be elected and nobody covered their tracks. Wait and see.

  38. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:24 am | Permalink

    Here is the video Mark was begging us to watch and share:

    https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/888228587333136384

  39. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:29 am | Permalink

    Aloha FF, I know I can be a scatter gun some times, but since no one wants to discuss the Trump tax increases, I thought I would bring up something I just saw.

    https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/nexpbx/facebook-bans-white-nationalism-and-white-separatism?utm_medium=vicenewsfacebook&fbclid=IwAR04JsJPvl8CAdUehTWNNRqtwQrg-hhkI9etHO9KCJ6lSxyglRRakR7GBkA

    What do folks think about private companies censoring content on “social media”? I know my free speech rights are curtailed in shopping malls and other “public spaces” owned by private capital. In the end I would expect this SCOTUS to side with the owners. Giving them the right to censor what ever appears on their pages.

  40. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:33 am | Permalink

    seems like they want to ultimately do the same thing Putin is doing (got to get my Putin Puppet activity in for the day)

    https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-internet-20190304-story.html

  41. Dan Pfeifer by proxy
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:38 am | Permalink

    Barr obstructing justice in an obstruction of justice probe is quite meta

  42. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 11:44 am | Permalink

    Wobblie,

    There are many things wrong with the world. I don’t feel like it is reasonable to apologize for wanting to talk about “no collusion” right now. This is, unfortunately, not a moment in history where we should just simply “move on” to the “real issues”, as you have suggested.

  43. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 12:25 pm | Permalink

    Hey EOS, did you catch this 1982 classic re-released in 2018 that I posted? Can’t stop grooving to this. I have to hear it just about every day hahahaha!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvEIXfy_Ga8

  44. Anonymous
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 12:37 pm | Permalink

    An investigation into potential collaboration by a sitting President with a hostile foreign power to sway an election is justified, no matter the outcome because Presidents are not kings.

    The investigation into Whitewater and the subsequent hearings regarding Clinton’s lying about Lewinsky was also justified because Presidents are not kings.

    The investigation into what happened at Benghazi was justified because Presidents are not kings.

    All Presidents and elected officials should be under constant investigation for any number of potential infractions, because they aren’t kings.

    If the investigations find nothing, so be it, but in a democracy, elected officials should always be under suspicion.

  45. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 12:46 pm | Permalink

    Too bad the investigation was predicated on a hoax. They used false information paid for by a candidate to fraudulently obtain a FISA warrant on Carter Page and based on his contacts obtained FISA warrants on the Trump campaign. Those responsible will face justice. I’ve been telling you for a while, huh? Now it seems inevitable. D.C. has been a cesspit of corruption for our entire lives. It’s about to change. I’m telling you. Everything is lining up exactly how I have said. How could that be? Where do I get (a lot of) my information?

  46. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 12:51 pm | Permalink

    Aloha FF, you want to talk no collusion since that is the Republican talking point since they started these investigations. The results have always been a forgone conclusion. The whole point is to avoid talking about the real issues involving Trump. Did we impose new sanctions on North Korea the way the Treasury Department says, or were they lifted as our President tweeted ? (this is important in that it indicates who is running the government) Republicans want to start talking about other Republicans or Hillary as soon as anyone brings up their tax increase. So no I don’t want to talk Republican talking points, they are boring and irrelevant to most folks (did you see how many people listed Russiagate as a major issue in the last election).

  47. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 12:56 pm | Permalink

    Out of all of all the potential for new and interesting theories, Anonymous chose to theorize, around the made-up notion, that there are people out there who think Presidents should be beyond suspicion because they are kings.

    LOL.

    Wow. You are really good at this theory thing. Have any more theories you would like to share?

  48. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 12:59 pm | Permalink

    “So no I don’t want to talk Republican talking points, they are boring and irrelevant to most folks (did you see how many people listed Russiagate as a major issue in the last election).”

    That’s bizarre to read after all the psychotic behavior by Trump/Russia conspiracy theorists here.

  49. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:03 pm | Permalink

    “No collusion” is a boring talking point, of the people who were wrongly accused (in a possibly coordinated way) of conspiracy to overthrow our elections?

    Yeah, its all just a bunch of boring and empty talking points.

  50. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:08 pm | Permalink

    Good. Indict and take all of the old Democrats to trail.

    Don’t you understand they have nothing to do with the future?

    Did you not look closely at who was elected?

    Do you think Mayor Pete is talking about Russian collusion?

  51. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:20 pm | Permalink

    The most powerful people in the world “have anything to do with the future”? I didn’t realize that, Sad. Our path seems so much easier now that you have shared this knowledge with us.

    Tell us more about this Mayor Pete guy.

  52. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:24 pm | Permalink

    Oops. I am glad I caught my mistake. That was a close call. I meant to say:

    The most powerful people in the world have “nothing to do with the future”?

    Everything is how it should be now. Back to Mayor Pete. Tell us more. The suspense is killing me.

  53. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:29 pm | Permalink

    Aloha HW, “That’s bizarre to read after all the psychotic behavior by Trump/Russia conspiracy theorists here.” The fact that people get led around by the media is nothing new. Many Republicans still believe that Obama was a Kenyan Socialist. But what about those Trump tax increases? FF, if we want to talk about conspiracies to over throw an elected government we can start with Reagan and Iran/Conta, oh thats right Trump hired one of the enablers of that coup to start the next war. I think it is a fair question, Who is running the Government? Trump says were getting out of Syria–nope. Where did Trump ever campaign on dumping the INF treaty? Are there new sanctions on North Korea the President wants to know.

    Of course we could talk about the Presidents racism,
    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/436058-puerto-rico-governor-to-trump-stop-the-insults-and-visit-the-island

  54. EOS
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:33 pm | Permalink

    Sad,

    Just because someone else has been elected does not mean you get a free pass for all the illegal activities of the former officials. Many have been fired or have resigned. But some are still clinging to their positions. And the most important thing is to bring them all to justice so that others, Trump and those to follow, don’t get the idea that they can flaunt our laws and get away with it. The sham investigations of Whitewater, Benghazi, Uranium One, and email communications kept in a server that was unsecured and never even turned over to the investigators. Obama should not have used the IRS to target conservative organizations during campaign seasons.

    Why does Roger Stone get a paramilitary force raiding his home at dawn, while Clinton’s close confidants were given a free pass before they were questioned without any recordings? What happened to no one being above the law? How can Jussie Smollett pay $10,000 to have felony charges disappear?

  55. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:37 pm | Permalink

    The New Democrats aren’t responsible for the sins of their predecessors.

    Look at our new young Congress people. They are the future. Mayor Pete is the future. Go ahead and spend all your time savaging Biden, Hillary, Comey . Etc. you’re doing us a favor.

    Here’s a look at one of the wonderful young people coming up to lead us forward.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Underwood

  56. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:45 pm | Permalink

    “Go ahead and spend all your time savaging Biden, Hillary, Comey . Etc. you’re doing us a favor.”

    Cool. Stay out of the way.

  57. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:47 pm | Permalink

    My pleasure. If you could especially go after Biden and Bernie I would be eternally grateful!

    It’s nice to be in agreement with EOS, FF and HW for once.

    The old Democrats need to go!

  58. EOS
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:51 pm | Permalink

    Actually the wonderful young people are a laughing stock

    https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/11/06/7-staggering-quotes-made-from-progressive-democrats-new-star/

    And Nancy hasn’t been able to control her at all. Dividing the Dims and making a Trump re-election likely.

  59. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:58 pm | Permalink

    We’ll see who has the last laugh.

    Mayor Pete is a staunch Christian EOS. But he thinks that the gospel encourages us to help those that are less well off instead of those in power.

    Imagine that?

  60. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 1:58 pm | Permalink

    Aloha EOS, “The sham investigations of Whitewater, Benghazi, Uranium One, and email communications kept in a server that was unsecured and never even turned over to the investigators. ” You realize of course that all these investigations were done by Republicans. Since they were all shams, how do you have any faith in this investigation?

  61. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 2:02 pm | Permalink

    Wobblie I finally found a concise look at Mayor Pete for you.

    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-does-pete-buttigieg-believe-where-the-candidate-stands-on-7-issues

  62. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 2:08 pm | Permalink

    Aloha Sad, I’ll check it out.
    A budget tells you a lot about a person. Trump wants to give .62 cents on the dollar to the Pentagon. Still wondering who is calling the shots in this administration. Or we could talk about the failure of leadership when it comes to climate change. With a C-in-C in denial about the most serious national security issue it is no wonder we have to waste money. The Airbases in the midwest that were flooded were not prepared for 1000 year floods every 20 year. They require $1.2B in FY2019 & $3.7B in FY2020/FY2021 of supplemental funding to rebuild Tyndall AFB, and recover Offutt AFB.

    But hey it will be like the lies over WMD–Who could have known?

  63. Kit
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 2:55 pm | Permalink

    Trump: “I understand health care now, especially, very well. A lot of people don’t understand it.”

    https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1110966556631203841

  64. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 3:13 pm | Permalink

    Thank you President Trump. It’s almost like he’s opening the door for Mayor Pete.

    https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/pete-buttigeg-what-is-the-gop-thinking-1465380419718

  65. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 3:18 pm | Permalink

    ISIS no longer controls any area of Syria and Iraq according to the NYT. The US will be out of Syria soon and there will be a peace plan. How come ISIS flourished during Obama’s tenure but Trump has destroyed it? It might still exist but to have all their bases knocked out has got to be devastating.

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/23/world/middleeast/isis-syria-defeated.html?mtrref=www.google.com

  66. wobblie
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 3:30 pm | Permalink

    Aloha HW, If ISIS is defeated in Syria why is the Trump Administration (it seems pretty clear that Trump is not in charge of foreign/military policy anymore) going to keep at least 500 US military personnel (don’t know how many mercenaries we are supporting there) in Syria? Obama is as much history as Clinton. Keep talking about the past, the Democrats are focused on the future, whether Mayor Pete, Tulsi or Sanders is the next President. What about those Trump tax increases. Now he wants to ax the entire affordable care act. Trump expects the Republicans to do some thing that they have been unable to do for 10 years. Are we actually sure they did not activate the 25th. amendment? Who is running the government? His sole value at this point is shoring up the base and of course entertainment, the two things he is adequate at.
    EOS, still wondering about your “sham investigation” comment.

  67. EOS
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 3:43 pm | Permalink

    wobblie,

    Republicans in Congress don’t have much of a chance to investigate when it is being covered up by a corrupt attorney general and CIA/FBI infrastructure and a complicit President.

    If Dims are focused on the future, why can’t they stop talking about a non-existent collusion after two years?

  68. EOS
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 3:48 pm | Permalink

    Anyone have an explanation why Smollett’s record was “wiped clean” of the 16 felony counts. How is it that he claims now to have told the truth the entire time? Why are the court documents sealed? Any bets that the Feds will charge him?

  69. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 4:08 pm | Permalink

    Officer, I am clearly no longer driving drunk. I am standing here talking to you. It’s in the past. Just let it go. I’ll call for someone to come drive me home now so I don’t have to face charges, alright?

  70. Anonymous
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 4:17 pm | Permalink

    FF, shouldn’t you be getting your runabout ready for spring instead of spending time in front of a computer?

  71. The B-17 Bombardier Ghost
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 5:02 pm | Permalink

    Mark, have you written any pieces on qanon yet? You have several q followers on your boards here.

    We are watching a movie, and the script is available to all courageous enough to #walkaway from their “tolerant and progressive” media propaganda.

    Enjoy the show, the great awakening happening across the planet, and don’t forget to take your red pills with vitamin Q.

  72. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 5:14 pm | Permalink

    I sure hope Jussie didn’t roll over on anyone for that treatment, EOS.

    “Politically motivated?”

    “2 for 1?
    3 for 1?
    4 for 1?
    These people are stupid.
    Q”

  73. Sad
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 5:21 pm | Permalink

    I think I’m in Love. ❤️

    https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/27/politics/pete-buttigieg-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/index.html

    Go after Hillary all you want. Go crazy!

  74. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 27, 2019 at 7:41 pm | Permalink

    Anonymous,

    I fear that if you spend too much of your time giving people non-sense advice about how they ought to manage their time, then it might cut into the time, you have set aside, for writing non-sense comments.

    If you don’t agree with Mark that we must remember the central question is about collusion; and if you disagree with Mark that we ought to share the “no collusion” video; then perhaps you should address it with him.

  75. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 7:36 am | Permalink

    President Trump basically announced the Q plan to the nation last night in a phone interview on Hannity. Mueller>Declas>Prosecution>Justice

  76. Donald Trump weighs in
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 7:43 am | Permalink

    Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!

  77. wobblie
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 7:52 am | Permalink

    Aloha, how about that Trump tax increase. How do you Trump fans think about his latest appointment to the Fed? Just saw that Stephen Moore had a $75,000 tax lien put on him just over a year ago. When I was appointed to office I could not serve if I had not paid my taxes. Another great example of the Trump administration vetting its appointees. The weakest President in my memory. The only thing he seems capable of doing is providing entertainment for his base. Just like his other reality TV show the people will cancel this program. By the way did we impose new sanctions on North Korea or not, the President still wants to know.

  78. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 8:06 am | Permalink

    You mean the tax decrease? You deny most workers got a raise in 2108? “Restructuring” is coming to the FED. Imagine if we start printing our own money again after the disastrous past century plus.

  79. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 8:07 am | Permalink

    Getting ahead of myself – 2018 of course

  80. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 8:28 am | Permalink

    Bronfman faints in court when asked by the judge if Michael Avenatti had represented her without her disclosing it.

    Foxxe had texts with Michelle Obama’s Chief of Staff who intervened on the Smollett family’s behalf.

    Schiff trying to defend himself in the House Intelligence Committee right now.

  81. Sad
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 9:45 am | Permalink

    You better watch out HW.

    Mayor Pete is up to 2 to 3% in national recognition!

  82. Jean Henry
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 9:50 am | Permalink

    HW offers up the rundown of yesterday’s FOX News headlines almost word for word.

    Evidence of his independent thinking I guess.

  83. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 11:54 am | Permalink

    I already knew about those before Fox reported them. Casting doubt on someone’s ability to think independently: sounds like a lawyerly little trick. Did you get that from your lawyer parents? I bet that is your problem. You learned that to persuade is to win.

  84. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 1:01 pm | Permalink

    Fox News? More like Faux News.

    (Honk.)

  85. Frosted Flakes
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 1:02 pm | Permalink

    Independent thinking? More like independent of thought.

    (Honk.)

  86. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 1:08 pm | Permalink

    Q just posted a pic titled GLOVES WILL BE OFF that says PRESIDENT TRUMP MICHIGAN RALLY TONIGHT 7PM ET

    Then:

    “1st and 10 @ the 50.
    Q”

  87. Sad
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 1:15 pm | Permalink

    HW Mayor Pete has his book back on the best seller list.

    Do you like to read books?

    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+shortest+way+home&hvadid=153634517248&hvdev=t&hvlocphy=9016851&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1239119879453537382&hvtargid=kwd-8597941061&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_6yejeblm3d_e

  88. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 1:25 pm | Permalink

    Naw, I’ve never read one in my whole life. I was born knowing all this shit hahahaha!

  89. Jean Henry
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 10:24 pm | Permalink

    “I already knew about those before Fox reported them. “— lol

  90. Sad
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 6:15 am | Permalink

    HW what did Trump say in a Grand Rapids last night? Did you go and shake his hand?

    I’m not Q-anon but I can reveal a secret to you. Here’s the man you will defeat Mr. Trump. EOS can you tell HW about David and Goliath?

    https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/29/pete-buttigieg-san-francisco-1243203

  91. Anonymous
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 6:25 am | Permalink

    In the wobblie spirit of aloha

    https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Twitterization-of-the/245965?key=KHFUmJ5O3Zs61RrOzq7lRr0RUvE8L5GhTe2XCKXwi5fZosVIhRNYRFmzC07R2bimeWRDV0Y5SmdKaHd3RHRpWXdpYWxmSEwwZWZDcHlkWFRDQVEtc3E0Si1XUQ&utm_campaign=The%20Interface&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter

  92. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 7:15 am | Permalink

    Don’t see what is funny about that. Jean’s ridicule is so unfocused it doesn’t make sense.

  93. Jean Henry
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 7:18 am | Permalink

    Anonymous– Academics on Twitter are almost as petty and vicious as they are at a dinner party. Anyone who lives in a college town knows many are too easily dismissive and rude and gossip-prone about others in their fields. Twitter seems as good a place as any for that vitriol.

  94. Jean Henry
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 7:19 am | Permalink

    I can’t spare the time to explain your delusions to you, HW. But, rest assured, almost everyone else can see them.

  95. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 7:37 am | Permalink

    Strong stuff there. Very substantial.

  96. Sad
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 7:44 am | Permalink

    Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 28, 2019 at 1:08 pm | Permalink
    Q just posted a pic titled GLOVES WILL BE OFF that says PRESIDENT TRUMP MICHIGAN RALLY TONIGHT 7PM ET
    Then:
    “1st and 10 @ the 50.
    Q”

    So what happened?

    Do you think Trump would be more upset to be beat by a gay man or a woman?

  97. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 8:09 am | Permalink

    The offensive has begun obviously. The President is using the word treason often now in association with the coup plot. What is the penalty for treason again?

  98. Sad
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 8:13 am | Permalink

    HW is Biden involved in any of this? I really want to get him out of the way. If Bernie could be implicated that would be great too.

  99. wobblie
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 2:43 pm | Permalink

    Aloha Anonymous, sorry I just saw your post above. My wife is a professor at OSU. They are constantly pressuring her to use social media, including twitter, to engage with students. She is a Luddite in many ways and absolutely refuses to try to communicate in 168 characters or what ever it is. She likes to be very detailed in her professing, and twitter just dosn’t cut it.

    anyone going to the POW WOW at Skyline High tomorrow? It is the 49th. annual. I have not been in a number of years, but they have always been high energy and spiritually uplifting in my experience. It is tomorrow and Sunday.

  100. Jean Henry
    Posted March 29, 2019 at 11:12 pm | Permalink

    Barr is back-peddling now:
    “In his new letter, Barr chastises those “mischaracterizing” his previous letter. “My March 24 letter was not, and did not purport to be, an exhaustive recounting of the Special Counsel’s investigation or report… I do not believe it would be in the public’s interest for me to attempt to summarize the full report or to release it in serial or piecemeal fashion,” he wrote. Barr says he anticipates being able to release a redacted version of Mueller’s full report by mid-April.”

    http://time.com/5561457/william-barr-robert-mueller-report-congress-transparent/

  101. Donald Trump weighs in
    Posted March 30, 2019 at 8:06 am | Permalink

    So funny that The New York Times & The Washington Post got a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage (100% NEGATIVE and FAKE!) of Collusion with Russia – And there was No Collusion! So, they were either duped or corrupt? In any event, their prizes should be taken away by the Committee!

  102. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted March 30, 2019 at 8:18 am | Permalink

    You call that back-pedaling? How? To me back-pedaling would be if he was like “Well we said the report found no evidence of collusion but that is not exactly true. Actually there are things that point in that direction. Mueller simply felt it did not approach the threshold of prosecution.”

  103. M
    Posted April 4, 2019 at 8:04 am | Permalink

    “It’s been my assumption that a 400-page report has an executive summary already, and so of course it begged the question, ‘Why did Barr feel the need to release his own summary?'” Schiff said. “Why didn’t he release a summary produced by Bob Mueller?”

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