Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He really is that stupid.

The willow is too close to the house.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

This fight is for everything.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Cole is on a roll !

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickle?”

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / McGahn…McGone?

McGahn…McGone?

by | 186 Comments

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To the surprise of no one, it happened via tweet.

Open thread

Reader Interactions

186Comments

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    Huh. For a moment I thought comments were off here.

    I wonder if McGahn is trying to save his skin here. Maybe he exposed something to Mueller that will have Dolt45 out for his head anyway.

  4. 4.

    Waynski

    Well, I’ll give Trump one thing. He’s awfully consistent. Awfully, awfully, awfully consistent. Never misses the chance to do the wrong thing. He’s a wee man.

  8. 8.

    Steeplejack

    I don’t want to see McGahn skate for his part in all the evil that has gone down. He seems to have done a much better job of covering his tracks than the other Trumpists, but I hope that doesn’t shield him.

    Also, could Trump get pushback on this from the Republicans because McGahn is their guy in the White House shepherding the whole “pack the federal judiciary” scheme? Is that far enough along that his guiding hand is no longer needed?

  9. 9.

    Starfish

    @Yutsano: You are giving these people too much credit.

    This is happening because Trump was pissed about the article the NYT wrote about McGahn talking to Mueller.

  12. 12.

    Lee

    Did anyone see Sen Grassley’s tweet of ‘U should not let this happen’.

    What a &$*$&$#* dumbass. Do your &$(*$ job and this wouldn’t be an issue.

  14. 14.

    MisterForkbeard

    Personally, I think it’s amazing that no one can stand to work with Trump for longer than a year or two. He’s just such an awful and transparently evil person that even awful people like Don McGahn are running for the hills.

  18. 18.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Major Major Major Major: I know, right? The fact that the conversation morphed into a “Let’s relitigate all the dumb things said during Franken’s resignation” is just… so typically ‘left’ and self-destructive.

    Of course, I engaged in it too. :P

  19. 19.

    Jeffro

    Think of all the people that have already come and gone – in some cases, long gone – and we’re only 19 months into this maladministration. Wow. It’s almost like for the first time in American history, working for the president* is a bad thing, something to be avoided.

  20. 20.

    Brachiator

    If McGahn is gone, the Manafort pardon will be coming soon. McGahn was adamantly against it.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    McGahn has told a confidant that he doesn’t expect to leave Trumpworld entirely after he leaves the White House. He privately said he expects to continue to be of assistance to the president through the re-election campaign.

    Somebody call Lara trump. She handles these things for the old lech, right?

    emptywheel @ emptywheel
    Want to be McGahn’s monthly hush payment is more than $15,000?

    Didn’t Tad Devine tell Manaforth he wanted $10,000/day to come to Ukraine? I wonder how much (other people’s) money the trumps are going to give McGahn?

  24. 24.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    What was up with that tweet of Gasbag Grassley freaking out and saying McGahn couldn’t be allowed to leave the White House Legal Counsel?

  28. 28.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @Jeffro:
    I keep hoping the day will come when the Executive Office of the President will organizationally collapse.

  29. 29.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax:

    Those tens of millions still in the inauguration account are collecting dust and becoming a health hazard, don’tcha know.

    So many hookers. So few Newsweeks.

  30. 30.

    TenguPhule

    @boatboy_srq:

    At this rate the US will declare war (against somebody) by tweet before 2020.

    The Canadian war will last 30 minutes. 25 after the commercials are taken out.

  32. 32.

    SRW1

    For a dude whose signature statement is ‘You’re fired!’ the Trumpster has an awfully hard time to actually fire people face-to-face? It’s almost as if his bravado is all show to cover up his manly deficits..

  33. 33.

    Yarrow

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    McGahn has told a confidant that he doesn’t expect to leave Trumpworld entirely after he leaves the White House. He privately said he expects to continue to be of assistance to the president through the re-election campaign.

    There are no former Trumpers. It’s like the mob. Once you’re in you’re in for life. I even view someone like Cohen a bit skeptically. He may have split with Trump or he may be playing a role.

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SRW1: I think Omarosa’s most interesting revelation was hearing the tape of trump’s wheedling, two-faced cowardice in the face of…. one of his fellow reality-tee-vee performers

  37. 37.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @boatboy_srq:

    At this rate the US will declare war (against somebody) by tweet before 2020.

    Trump will announce the crushing defeat of the Islamic country “Mamba” by tweet proclaiming you can’t find it on the map anymore.

  39. 39.

    Cheryl Rofer

    O.M.G.

    President Donald Trump told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their Singapore summit in June that he’d sign a declaration to end the Korean War soon after their meeting, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations.

    I don’t have time to put up a post on this now, but will later unless Adam beats me to it.

  42. 42.

    oldgold

    This move puts the Mueller investigation in greater peril.

    Hopefully, this week Mueller moves bigly – time and timing!

  47. 47.

    Это курам на смех

    When Trump goes to prison, where will they put his Secret Service detail? In the same cell, or the next one over?

  48. 48.

    MattF

    In Trumpworld, lawyers are disposable. You keep firing them until you get one who tells you what you want to hear (e.g., Giuliani).

  53. 53.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Donald Trump told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their Singapore summit in June that he’d sign a declaration to end the Korean War soon after their meeting

    Will Trump realize he’s signed a declaration of surrender to North Korea before its too late?

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    “Bob McCulloch delivered a speech so offensive to his audience that an entire county’s worth of Oregon prosecutors walked out and later shunned his subsequent keynote address.”

    Just how racist do you have to be for a bunch of PROSECUTORS to walk out?https://t.co/CLFa65n9zU

    — ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 29, 2018

  57. 57.

    Mary G

    Dog bless Fahrenthold. He’s probably #1 on the FAKE NEWS TO BE JAILED FOR LIFE list:

    .@realDonaldTrump once had 19 companies paying him to use his name on their products. By this yr, just 2 were left. Now, it might be 1.Panamanian company HomeStudio S.A., which sold Trump-branded bed linens in Latin America, has shut website and stopped answering the phone. pic.twitter.com/wV2KGrsbRJ— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) August 29, 2018

  58. 58.

    MattF

    @Cheryl Rofer: So, Koreans– both North and South– imagined that Trump would keep a promise? I’d expect Chinese and Japanese now dealing with Trump to both back off several steps now.

  60. 60.

    TenguPhule

    @Это курам на смех:

    When Trump goes to prison, where will they put his Secret Service detail? In the same cell, or the next one over?

    The next government will revoke it from him and his family and let the chips fall where they may.

  62. 62.

    laura

    @Major Major Major Major: I got a cheap flight to Tokyo and Taipei in March!
    You know that’s just going to egg on lahm36 -the other travellingest jackal…..
    The only question will be if it’s before, during or after her Master’s Program.
    (Yes, im jealous)

  63. 63.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @oldmold: STFU, you superannuated shitheel. I’d accuse you of having a one-track mind but I have yet to see evidence of a mind behind your whines.

  64. 64.

    Doug R

    @TenguPhule: Canadians have been inserting sleeper agents since Mary Pickford. Why do you think Errol Flynn died in Vancouver. Liquor and whores was the cover story.
    There’s about a million Canadians in greater Los Angeles alone.

  65. 65.

    James E Powell

    @Brachiator:

    If McGahn is gone, the Manafort pardon will be coming soon. McGahn was adamantly against it.

    Kinda sorta my sense of this, too. Either he will get another attorney who will issue justification and go on TV to defend it, or he may just let Rudy continue doing his fine work. We will learn later – most likely from Maggie Haberman – that Ivanka was against it.

  70. 70.

    debit

    @James E Powell: So, if Manafort is pardoned, doesn’t that work against Trump? I mean, than he can be compelled to testify, yes? And doesn’t it then open up obstruction of justice charges against Trump too? I just don’t see how a pardon does anything but make this worse.

  73. 73.

    Ninedragonspot

    @Major Major Major Major: I spend a few months every year in Taipei. Let me know if you are interested in seeing Taiwanese, Beijing, Kun or Hakka opera while you there or have questions about the city.

  74. 74.

    catclub

    @debit:

    So, if Manafort is pardoned, doesn’t that work against Trump? I mean, than he can be compelled to testify, yes?

    I would think that the compelled testimony is only on things related to the pardon. I guess this is assuming that many other crimes still have to be hidden.
    Those by Manafort as well as Trump.

  75. 75.

    Humdog

    @debit: Just how does compelling to testify work? You cannot plead the fifth, but how do you make true words come out of someone’s mouth. Can’t Manafort just go with old tried and true, I do not recall?

  77. 77.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Humdog: If he’s lying or un-cooperative, he is jailed through contempt of court IIRC. Though the Judge would probably need to justify it, and I have no idea what the requirements there are.

  80. 80.

    debit

    @catclub: Okay, I can see that. But now that he’s been convicted of lying on his federal taxes, aren’t the states planning on charging him for those years too? Those can’t be pardoned. Either way, no matter what, he’s going to be in jail.

  81. 81.

    Lulymay

    @sukabi:

    I thought I just read elsewhere that he’s better known as the “2 minute wonder”. That would fit…..so to speak.

  82. 82.

    debit

    @Humdog: Well, I assume they gave some corroborating evidence. And the old “I don’t recall” thing doesn’t actually work, according to previous lawerly discussion here and there. So if he fibs or fudges, then he’s suddenly guilty of lying to a federal agent and that’s a whole new charge.

  83. 83.

    opiejeanne

    @debit: There’s a weird catch in NY state laws, that preclude someone from being tried for the same crime in NY if the Feds have already tried them. They’re in a rush to change that law so that he is not exempted. But the Feds haven’t tried him for NY tax fraud, and if he was guilty of fraud on his IRS filing, he’s certainly guilty of the same for state taxes.

  86. 86.

    TenguPhule

    @debit:

    ? Those can’t be pardoned.

    New york law apparently has a loophole involving double jeopardy on similar federal charges..

  87. 87.

    debit

    @opiejeanne: They have all those counts that one juror held out on. Those qualify for trial at the state level. That’s if Manafort doesn’t retry. There was a Slate article I can’t get to ATM, but it laid it out pretty well how New York, Illinios, Virginia and California (IIRC) could all get a piece of the Manafort pie.

  90. 90.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    People who live in Southern states don’t always realize that their particular brand of racism doesn’t always fly outside of those states. Oregon has its issues with racists and white supremacists, but they’re not as casual about this stuff as Missouri is:

    And that speech the Oregon prosecutors found so offensive? In past years, it may well have won McCulloch a standing ovation at a conference of Missouri prosecutors. Come January, though, it will be McCulloch leaving the room.

  92. 92.

    opiejeanne

    @TenguPhule: I read that they introduced a bill two days ago to fix that loophole, but I think their state leg is on recess. At least one lawmaker came back from vacation to propose the bill.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    @opiejeanne:

    There’s a weird catch in NY state laws, that preclude someone from being tried for the same crime in NY if the Feds have already tried them.

    MISTRIALS DO NOT apply to Double Jeopardy statutes. So, all the charges from the Mistrial can be refiled – BY STATES – and, they can even use the Government’s evidence in those trials.

  96. 96.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @A Ghost To Most:
    Per rawstory; Sarah Palin not invited to McCain funeral.

    Heh. I always figured the McCain family hated her for making Daddy look bad by accepting his offer of the Veep slot. NOKD.

  98. 98.

    MisterForkbeard

    @rikyrah: Very true, but I think the discussion here is about pardons. I suppose this still applies if Trump pardons him for the 8 counts, and NYState goes after him on the remaining 10…. but given that several of the 10 were about conspiracy to commit the 8 pardoned crimes, I’m not sure how that would go.

  99. 99.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @opiejeanne: @rikyrah: as I understand it, the concern is that if he’s convicted and pardoned, he skates on that double jeopardy thing. Rachel Maddow speculated, and Chuck “Old Sobersides” Rosenberg even seemed to agree that it was plausible, that their strategy might be to plead guilty, take the pardon, and run away into whatever kind of witness protection program Putin offers.

  100. 100.

    rikyrah

    @debit:

    There was a Slate article I can’t get to ATM, but it laid it out pretty well how New York, Illinios, Virginia and California (IIRC) could all get a piece of the Manafort pie.

    Yep, someone here was the one who linked to the article, but that was the bottom line. Multiple states could charge Manafort, and the MISTRIAL verdicts DO NOT apply to Double Jeopardy, and those prosecutors didn’t even have to come up with their own evidence. They could use the fed’s evidence..LOL

  105. 105.

    Amir Khalid

    @TenguPhule:
    1) Sarah Palin was never John McCain’s mistress, unless you know something the rest of us don’t.
    2) Francois Miterrand’s widow and mistress stood together at his coffin during his state funeral, so it’s not unheard of.

  107. 107.

    TenguPhule

    Elon Musk doubles down on ‘pedo’ claims against UK cave diver

    Elon Musk appears to have doubled down on his claim that a British explorer who was instrumental in freeing a group of Thai boys trapped in a cave is a “pedo”.

    The chair of Tesla was widely criticised last month for making the unfounded allegation against Vernon Unsworth, who was part of an international team that freed the young footballers and their coach from the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand.

    Unsworth had criticised a mini-submarine that Musk had delivered for the rescue as impractical and said he could “stick [it] where it hurts”.

    Musk responded by calling Unsworth a “pedo guy”, later tweeting: “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.” He deleted both tweets soon after.

    He has never presented any evidence for the allegation nor claimed to have any. He apologised for the remark last month after Unsworth threatened to sue, Tesla shares dived and the company’s investors issued an open letter demanding Musk apologise.

    Musk was responding to another critic on Twitter on Tuesday when he appeared to reaffirm the accusation. “You don’t think it’s strange [Unsworth] hasn’t sued me? He was offered free legal services,” he wrote.

    “Did you investigate at all? I’m guessing answer is no. Why?” he wrote in subsequent tweets that are still online.

    Asshole gotta asshole.

  108. 108.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    and the international relations professor goes for the coldest shot

    Daniel W. Drezner @ dandrezner
    To honor McCain, Palin plans a domestic disturbance that will require the intervention of local cops.

  109. 109.

    opiejeanne

    @TenguPhule: Yes, he met her at a party in Hawaii while he was still married to Carol. His first marriage may have been on the rocks at the time. Not nice but not that unusual*. Cindy strikes me as a typical trophy wife.

    *Compare and contrast with our current Resident.

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    @debit:
    I was sure you were paying attention. Making things worse is the shitgibbon’s only skill.
    You can always bet on worse with him.

  114. 114.

    debit

    @Ruckus: I just assumed that someone so self absorbed would take it to heart if his legal team was telling him “Don’t do it, it’ll hurt you.” If he had even a shred of some redeeming quality I could almost feel sorry for him; his desperation is palpable. As it is, all I can do a sort of evil Renfield laugh as I think of his coming ordeals.

  115. 115.

    TenguPhule

    @Amir Khalid: *shrug* poor taste, I know.

    No evidence that Sec Kelly is bonking his former protegee either, but it would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  116. 116.

    TenguPhule

    @opiejeanne:

    Mmmm, pie! I think those apples on the tree are about ready.

    I believe there is still an ongoing debate between cinnamon and nutmeg.

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ruckus: we always assume the Russians want to keep things quiet. I’ve always thought that when it suits him, when it simply amuses him, Putin will release little dribs and drabs. Or big ones. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Russia were the source on leaks about trump tower, if they were yanking Cohen around.

  121. 121.

    rikyrah

    Donald Trump Does Not Want That Smoke From Andrew Gillum
    By Damon Young

    Admittedly, I do not know much about Andrew Gillum. I know he won the Democratic nomination in Florida’s primary race for governor, beating heavy favorite Gwen Graham. I know he’s the mayor of Tallahassee. I know he graduated from Florida A&M—which is why every FAMU grad I’m Facebook friends with had 22,000 word-long status messages this morning about Rattlers. I know he met his wife there. I know, without knowing him, that he frequents a black barbershop. (Which is very important.)

    I also learned, earlier today, that he possesses that smoke. Perhaps he doesn’t possess much of it.
    ………………………………………….

    I do know, however, that he has some smoke for the president. And Donald Trump, the simp-ass, mark-ass, trick-ass coward that he is, wants none of it. If Donald Trump went to a restaurant, and Smoke From Andrew Gillum was featured on its menu—perhaps accompanied with chorizo Benedict—he’d leave and go to Steak n’ Shake.

  122. 122.

    TenguPhule

    @Ninedragonspot:

    Possibly still the same batch of stinky tofu, though.

    Zimmerman confirmed that. They probably recycled his batch after the Travel Channel left.

  123. 123.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @TenguPhule: Pretty misogynistic, IMO. Would you make the same jokes about two male politicians? I know we’re talking about evil Republicans, but women in public office don’t deserve this generalized disrespect.

  126. 126.

    Ruckus

    @debit:
    Personally, right now, I’m just hoping that the shit hits the fan soon. I like the smell of legal shit hitting the fan. And besides I’ve reached my snarky limit in this matter. And that pisses me off, that something this snark worthy is also so bad that the bad has won.

  127. 127.

    TenguPhule

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    Pretty misogynistic, IMO. Would you make the same jokes about two male politicians?

    1. Uh, you do realize the ones who came up with the Kelly speculation are women?

    2. Yes. And then I was promptly accused of being anti-homosexual.

  128. 128.

    A Ghost To Most

    So you think I’m over-reacting, you think I’ve gone too far,
    Well that’s something I considered, ’til you tied yourself to my car
    I still see you in my rear-view mirror, your hands and face all scarred
    And it was just then that I realized what a loon you really are.
    So, if you’re thinkin’ ’bout comin’ down,
    Better think again, better look around,
    Don’t go tryin’ to mess with my head,
    ‘Cause I got myself a gun and I’m gonna shoot you dead.

    Slobberbone, “Shoot you dead”

  129. 129.

    debit

    @Ruckus: As the walls close in and he gets more and more desperate, he’s going to do something so awful, so egregious that it will finally answer the question, “What does Trump have to do in order to have the GOP establishment turn on him?” I don’t know what it is, but he’ll do it. Either that or stroke out while he’s taking a shit.

  131. 131.

    TenguPhule

    @debit:

    he’s going to do something so awful, so egregious that it will finally answer the question, “What does Trump have to do in order to have the GOP establishment turn on him?”

    The answer always has been “nothing”.

    The only possible road to survival for the GOP is to go all the way with Trump.

    Anything less leads to prison and/or death.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Nothing in this shitscape surprises me.
    But it’s either dead man walking or a parade through every Russian city big enough to have a police station. Which may end in the same way.

  137. 137.

    p.a.

    @debit: ‘B’. The party will never turn on someone while they still have their hands on the levers of power.

    Stroke while trying to suck a shake through a straw.

  138. 138.

    Ruckus

    @debit:
    What ever it is, he will fuck it up and make it worse, because, no matter how bad it gets the one thing we know, he can only make it worse

  140. 140.

    TenguPhule

    @debit:

    Man, and I thought I was a cynic.

    They’re complicit in high treason. There is only one way out.

    Treason doth neuer prosper? What’s the Reason?
    for if it prosper none dare call it treason.

  144. 144.

    Fair Economist

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    What was up with that tweet of Gasbag Grassley freaking out and saying McGahn couldn’t be allowed to leave the White House Legal Counsel?

    My speculation is that McGahn was picking the judicial nominees and Grassley is afraid that with him gone he’ll be getting Trump’s cronies as judicial nominee rather than Federalist Society members.

  146. 146.

    Mnemosyne

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    Actually, I’m pretty convinced that Kelly is fucking Nielsen and the press refuses to report it. Why do the White House chief of staff and the DHS secretary travel together when only one of them has business at the destination? ?

    The fact that she’s a proven incompetent (see her Katrina record) as well as a Fox-ready blonde only adds to the impression.

  147. 147.

    TenguPhule

    Nobody could have predicted….oh wait.

    U.S. is denying passports to Americans along the border, throwing their citizenship into question

    On paper, he’s a devoted U.S. citizen.

    His official American birth certificate shows he was delivered by a midwife in Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas. He spent his life wearing American uniforms: three years as a private in the Army, then as a cadet in the Border Patrol and now as a state prison guard.

    But when Juan, 40, applied to renew his U.S. passport this year, the government’s response floored him. In a letter, the State Department said it didn’t believe he was an American citizen.

    As he would later learn, Juan is one of a growing number of people whose official birth records show they were born in the United States but who are now being denied passports — their citizenship suddenly thrown into question. The Trump administration is accusing hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Hispanics along the border of using fraudulent birth certificates since they were babies, and it is undertaking a widespread crackdown on their citizenship.

    It has begun.

  149. 149.

    Mnemosyne

    @sukabi:

    If the suit is being filed in Great Britain, Musk’s ass is toast. Their libel laws are much less loose than ours are.

  150. 150.

    TenguPhule

    The government alleges that from the 1950s through the 1990s, some midwives and physicians along the Texas-Mexico border provided U.S. birth certificates to babies who were actually born in Mexico. In a series of federal court cases in the 1990s, several birth attendants admitted to providing fraudulent documents.

    Based on those suspicions, the State Department began during Barack Obama’s administration to deny passports to people who were delivered by midwives in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. The use of midwives is a long-standing tradition in the region, in part because of the cost of hospital care.

    The same midwives who provided fraudulent birth certificates also delivered thousands of babies legally in the United States. It has proved nearly impossible to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate documents, all of them officially issued by the state of Texas decades ago.

    A 2009 government settlement in a case litigated by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) seemed like it had mostly put an end to the passport denials. Attorneys reported that the number of denials declined during the rest of the Obama administration, and the government settled promptly when people filed complaints after being denied passports.

    Wapo Fail. George Bush the lesser has been purged from the media’s memory.

  151. 151.

    Mnemosyne

    @TenguPhule:

    This has been a problem since at least post-9/11, and lots of asshole politicians have been insisting that if one or two midwives were convicted of faking birth certificates, they must ALL be fake.

    And very few Latinos of that generation would have been born in hospitals because of segregation — Texas applied “Juan Crow” segregation laws to Latinos in the state.

  152. 152.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne:

    This has been a problem since at least post-9/11

    Trump has done the usual and escalated it into something completely worse.

  153. 153.

    Anonymous At Work

    @EBT: No, it’s that McGahn’s job of protecting the President becomes unnecessary with 5 solid Republicans on the Supreme Court.
    Why aren’t people leading with that??

  154. 154.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @rikyrah: begs the question : Who the fuck invited the scumbag in the first place? It’s not like his despicable performance was some sort of mystery.

  161. 161.

    A Ghost To Most

    Russia has positioned a considerable naval armada in the Mediterranean near Syria after accusing the US of plotting a false-flag chemical-weapons attack in rebel-held areas — and it looks as if it’s preparing for war with the US.

    A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, recently said the US had built up its naval forces in the Mediterranean and accused it of “once again preparing major provocations in Syria using poisonous substances to severely destabilize the situation and disrupt the steady dynamics of the ongoing peace process.”

    But the Pentagon on Tuesday denied any such buildup, calling Russia’s claims “nothing more than propaganda” and warning that the US military was not “unprepared to respond should the president direct such an action,” CNN’s Ryan Browne reported. Business Insider reviewed monitors of Mediterranean maritime traffic and found only one US Navy destroyer reported in the area.

    Adam, is this something, or nothing?

  163. 163.

    TenguPhule

    @A Ghost To Most:

    But the Pentagon on Tuesday denied any such buildup, calling Russia’s claims “nothing more than propaganda” and warning that the US military was not “unprepared to respond should the president direct such an action,” CNN’s Ryan Browne reported. Business Insider reviewed monitors of Mediterranean maritime traffic and found only one US Navy destroyer reported in the area.

    The Pentagon hired Baghdad Bob?

  166. 166.

    debit

    @TenguPhule: Stop. You’re making me have fantasies about Trump hiding from the US Army in some stinking little shithole after he’s been driven from power. On second thought, don’t stop.

  168. 168.

    Mary G

    Didn’t read the article due to paywall, but this is amusing:

    Last year, Trump tried to offer the counsel’s job to Rob Porter, with encouragement from Ivanka Trump and Kushner and others. Porter said he didn’t think he was qualified for the job. Trump kept asking. https://t.co/aCo6s4S9Bj— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 29, 2018

  170. 170.

    debbie

    Someone on NPR reported that despite Trump’s approving words about McGahn, he hated him because he represented the presidency not the president. They speculate that Flood will be appointed to replace him. I’m not familiar with Flood other than he defended Bill Clinton, but I wonder if Trump expects he will defend Trump instead of the presidency?

  171. 171.

    tobie

    @rikyrah: Mr. tobie and I heard Andrew Gillum on Chuck Toddle’s show on Sirius radio. Chuck was being an aggressive ass and Gillum masterfully parried every attack line he threw at him. At the end of the interview, mr. tobie and I turned toward each other and said simultaneously, “Wow, he’s good.” I was hard on him yesterday because of the FBI investigation but listening to him convinced me I was wrong. I spoke too soon and made a false judgment. Gillum handled, among other things, the FBI question beautifully. Talked about his transparency and compared it to De Santis’ opacity. It was all done well with a certain levity to boot.

  172. 172.

    tobie

    @debbie:Yet another norm will fall if Trump appoints his personal attorney to the post of White House attorney. If Flood accepts the post, frankly it means he, like Trump, believes that when it comes to the President, “L’etat, c’est moi.”

  173. 173.

    MomSense

    Twitter toddler having another tantrum. He needs a long time out – in prison.

    I don’t care a bit about McGahn. He’s another monster but I hope he provided some more evidence to take down the Mandarin Menace.

  176. 176.

    Kathleen

    @MomSense: The Toddles is a fascist fluffing fecal fragment. As are most of the media, and all of the FTFNYT political stenographers.

  177. 177.

    B.B.A.

    @tobie: It fell under Bush. Miers was his personal attorney before she became WH Counsel (and then failed to be appointed to SCOTUS).

  178. 178.

    geg6

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    They wouldn’t. Paul Ryan (it’s his PAC that handed it to her opponent) is a traitorous mother fucker. And he or his buddy Nunes can easily get those records.

  182. 182.

    Brachiator

    @opiejeanne:

    Cindy strikes me as a typical trophy wife.

    Cindy is a wealthy heiress. John McCain could have been her typical trophy husband.

  185. 185.

    J R in WV

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    O.M.G.

    President Donald Trump told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their Singapore summit in June that he’d sign a declaration to end the Korean War soon after their meeting, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations.

    I don’t have time to put up a post on this now, but will later unless Adam beats me to it.

    Pretty sure Trump would need to get a few others to sign a peace agreement in Korea, as it was United Nations police action, not a war between the US and DPRK and China. That might be difficult for him, as he’s pissed off many of our traditional allies at the UN.

    What a dork, doesn’t even know other nations are involved with Korea besides ours. His in his world…

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