Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Let me file that under fuck it.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

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

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Trump Crime Cartel / Interesting If True: Senate Intel Committee Subpoenas Trump, Jr

Interesting If True: Senate Intel Committee Subpoenas Trump, Jr

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I had to read it twice to realize it was Senate, not House.

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114Comments

  1. 1.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    This infrastructure week is shaping up to be one of the most productive yet!!

  2. 2.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Marco Rubio posted something tonight about Barr being lawless and refusing to release the Mueller report to the people who have requested it. He is FOR holding Barr in contempt. It was retweeted by Bill Cristol. Perhaps the repubs are FINALLY getting tired of the lawlessness.

  4. 4.

    germy

    Isn’t the senate investigating the investigation? Their theory is that Hillary and Obama conspired to steal the election. So isn’t junior there as a friendly witness for the senate’s prosecution of the Hildebeast’s deep state?

  8. 8.

    TenguPhule

    The US and China have moved to within 36 hours of a full-scale trade war after Washington published a list of imported products that will face higher tariffs from Friday.

    In a clear sign of Washington’s hardline approach in talks with Beijing, the US trade representative’s office filed the formal paperwork needed to increase duties on $200bn (£153bn) of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% later this week.

    “Trade Wars are short and easily winnable.”
    //s

  9. 9.

    The Moar You Know

    Isn’t the senate investigating the investigation? Their theory is that Hillary and Obama conspired to steal the election. So isn’t junior there as a friendly witness for the senate’s prosecution of the Hildebeast’s deep state?

    @germy: That’s the deal.

    Perhaps the repubs are FINALLY getting tired of the lawlessness.

    @Litlebritdifrnt: We let them take power in enough places that they will not pay a price for their lawlessness. Why would they get tired of it? It’s nothing but upside unless Dems can figure out a way to get the Senate back. At which time the GOP will suddenly discover the value of the rule of law. As will the press.

  10. 10.

    Duane

    With all the acknowledged contacts Trumpov had with Russia, was it ever reported to the FBI? Even after they warned about Russian invovlement? Why not?

  12. 12.

    TenguPhule

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    . He is FOR holding Barr in contempt. It was retweeted by Bill Cristol. Perhaps the repubs are FINALLY getting tired of the lawlessness.

    Nope. Its Lucy’s Football all over again. When push comes to shove, he will only vote against Barr if there are enough Republicans supporting Barr to make his own vote meaningless.

  13. 13.

    mrmoshpotato

    Are there any pictures of this traitorous, trash, crime family that don’t scream, “I would totally deserve my face denting your cast iron pan!”?

  14. 14.

    Raoul

    I love that Mitch said “case closed”… yesterday! LOL

    I’m not a big an of Sen. Burr, but he isn’t a total patsy, at least.

  15. 15.

    TenguPhule

    Nadler is now addressing reporters, defending the committee’s decision to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress.

    “We have talked for a long time about approaching a constitutional crisis,” Nadler said. “We are now in it.”

    Of Barr, he said that the attorney general “has taken a much greater step farther, in turning the entire Department of Justice into an instrument of Trump personally, rather than an instrument of justice.”

    Nadler quoted Benjamin Franklin responding to a question about what type of a government the framers had designed: “A republic, if you can keep it.” The chairman said now is a test of whether the US will remain a republic or if it is “destined to change into a different more tyrannical form of government”.

    “There could be no higher stakes than this attempt to arrogate all power to the executive branch,” he said.

    Breaking from the Guardian

  16. 16.

    Chyron HR

    A source close to Trump Jr. tells Axios: “He is the son of their God-Emperor. That makes me like Jesus, right? Smite them for me, daddy!”

  17. 17.

    trollhattan

    The Senate?!? What, they want to tell him in person how awesome he is?

  19. 19.

    Big Mango

    @Litlebritdifrnt: more likely they know Trump is dirty and they want the dems to force him out thus making Pence the Pres and riling up their base for possible upset in 2020…

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    @Big Mango

    Not that I buy into this supposition, but if so Pence’s support will evaporate faster than piss on a hot rock.

  28. 28.

    AM in NC

    I’ve been calling Burr’s DC and local offices every day since Barr testified before the Senate, making sure to contrast Thom Tillis’s (the other NC Senator) butt-kissing in that hearing with Burr’s seemingly even-handed running of his committee’s investigation, and then asking why Burr has remained silent as more and more wrong-doing is being committed and revealed, saying silence=complicity. The staffers have sounded increasingly demoralized each day as shoes continue to drop. I think the public pressure (not to mention the facts of the Mueller Report itself) is getting to them and possibly Burr himself.

    Of course in my more cynical moments, I think this is all part of a grand GOP plan to cut bait on Trump, install Mike Pence, claim “see, we’re a new, sparkly GOP who rooted out the evil,” just in time for the 2020 election.

  29. 29.

    Chyron HR

    @AM in NC:

    Of course in my more cynical moments, I think this is all part of a grand GOP plan to cut bait on Trump, install Mike Pence, claim “see, we’re a new, sparkly GOP who rooted out the evil,” just in time for the 2020 election.

    Which of them gets to explain to Trump that he has to go for the good of the Republican party?

  30. 30.

    danielx

    @germy:

    About fucking time. Although there was lots of Republican argle bargle about Democratic overreach.

  32. 32.

    Raoul

    @AM in NC: This is why I wrote to Corey Gardner the other day. I should call, too. I have no illusions that the GOP en masse will abandon the billion dollar loser. But a few like Burr may decide to act at least a little bit like actual Senators, and a few others like Gardner may decide that their melting chances to hold office could improve if they denounce the orange fartcloud at least occasionally.

  33. 33.

    oatler.

    NBC powerhouse Chuck Todd has weighed in:

    “Any chance the @barenakedladies could write some lyrics to a song titled “if I lost a billion dollars…” I know one thing, you’d have to find someone else buy John Merrick’s remains and you’d likely have to eat generic Mac n cheese #GreenDressesAreCruel.”

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Chyron HR:

    Which of them gets to explain to Trump that he has to go for the good of the Republican party?

    Ha! Like Trump gives a big rat’s ass about the good of the Republican Party.

  36. 36.

    karen marie

    @Litlebritdifrnt: No, Rubio is still deluded enough to think he has a chance in hell of being nominated as the “reasonable” Republican candidate once Trump is gone, or as good as. I think we’ll know which way the Republican senate impeachment winds are blowing by the timing of his announcement that’s he’s running for the GOP nomination.

  37. 37.

    RandomMonster

    It will consist of two hours of essentially this:

    GOP Chairman: Do you think you were spied on by Deep State operatives involved in a vast left wing attempted coup?

    DJTJ: Yes. Yes I do.

  38. 38.

    karen marie

    @TenguPhule: You have got to love the framing – “defending” – as if the justification weren’t obvious to the dimmest of the dim.

  39. 39.

    Raoul

    @RandomMonster: Unless Burr can find a way to prevent the Dems on the committee from attending or asking questions, there would be real questions asked as well. I assume that’s why the close source is upset about ‘fighting republicans’.

  41. 41.

    Redshift

    @germy:

    Isn’t the senate investigating the investigation?

    No, that’s Lindsay’s Judiciary Committee. After one early attempt by Burr to weasel out of investigating, he seems to have allowed Mark Warner to keep things in line. So I’m cautiously optimistic that this is for real.

  44. 44.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I wonder if that Infrastructure deal Trump did with Dems has the GOP donar class pissed over the though of a tax hike and they are on the Senate about it. After all Trump is only borrowing the GOP from the real rich.

  46. 46.

    jk

    Don’s Jr’s Opening Statement –

    “Humina, Humina, Humina”

    h/t Ralph Kramden

  47. 47.

    The Lodger

    @AM in NC: If you’re still here, wasn’t Burr elected in 2016 and how much did his election depend on Trump’s coattails? IIRC it was kind of close for Burr. If so it would be strange for his people to want to re-examine that election in any kind of detail.

  48. 48.

    MomSense

    @The Lodger:

    Didn’t we find out that Burr was informing the White House about the documents and testimony presented to his committee?

  52. 52.

    AM in NC

    @The Lodger: Burr was re-elected in 2016, and won by about 5 points. Rumor has it that he is not running for re-election again, so maybe that frees him up to at least attempt to uphold his oath of office?

    Although he has not been pure at all in this process. We learned awhile ago that he ran interference with the press at the request of the president, and the Mueller Report revealed that he leaked the names of investigation targets to the White House after being briefed by the FBI . Maybe having that revealed made him feel like he needed to “play” at impartiality?

  53. 53.

    Cacti

    Mike Pence tells Federalist Society that Trump will ask SCOTUS to curtail the power of US District Courts to issue injunctions against his (illegal and unconstitutional) executive decrees and policies.

    The fascist coup against constitutional government with separation of powers is becoming more brazen here in the Weimar Republic of America. Undoing Marbury v. Madison is now an explicit goal.

    I still hold my belief that if the Dems had failed to win the House in 2018, there wouldn’t have been an election in 2020.

  55. 55.

    Mike in NC

    Trade wars being escalated with China and Mexico, and sabre-rattling with Iran. A stable genius is at work here, folks.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    I don’t think so because the “infrastructure deal” was completely imaginary.

    Donald Trump said he would do an infrastructure deal and Nancy Pelosi said “that sounds nice” :)

    “Donald Trump said” is.. well, you know.

    I was wondering if it’s pressure on tariffs though, so we’re thinking the same. They’re ALL worked up over these tariffs.

  57. 57.

    Zinsky

    After receiving his subpoena, I’m sure “Diaper Don” will wet the bed tonight, just like he did every night at college!

  59. 59.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Mr DAW and I were discussing who from the administration we’d most like to see in jail, putting Trump himself aside. Mr DAW said junior. I, of course, said Sarah Sanders. She’s not related or anything. She’s there of her free will.

  60. 60.

    Felanius Kootea

    @debbie: Nixon’s approval rating was 67% in early 1973… I think Trump has a higher floor because he has a hard-core group of supporters who get their news only from propaganda networks, but these people are not the majority of the US population. It is highly significant that Trump has never had an approval rating over 50% at any point in his presidency.

  61. 61.

    HinTN

    @Chyron HR:

    Which of them gets to explain to Trump that he has to go for the good of the Republican party?

    Just finished reading The Feast of the Goat and this is a very interesting question.

  63. 63.

    mrmoshpotato

    OT kinda:. Just saw on the news that Billy Bush is “returning to entertainment” after he was fired for a “graphic conversation” that was caught on tape.

    Fuck you Chicago’s Very Own WGN! You’re talking about the Grab-‘Em-By-The-Pussy tape with a pig that became POTUS!

  64. 64.

    J R in WV

    I’m sure someone told Trump that no president even loses an election while there’s a war on.

    So we’re going to a trade war with Mexico and China, and a shooting war with Iran right away. This will cause prices for everything to skyrocket, and gas won’t be available in quantities sufficient to get everyone to work at prices we can all afford. When the tomato sauce for french fries becomes unavailable, Trump will be put out of office by McDonalds Corp. Lose / lose for everyone…

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    Jesus wept.

    A teenager died in a shooting at a Colorado high school – days before his graduation – while charging one of the attackers, his classmates say.

    Eighteen-year-old Kendrick Castillo was the only fatality in Tuesday’s assault allegedly by two students near Denver.

    Classmate Nui Giasolli told US media she was in her British literature class when one of the suspects turned up late and pulled out a gun. Kendrick lunged at the gunman, “giving us all enough time to get underneath our desks to get ourselves safe, to run across the room to escape”, she said.

    John Castillo, Kendrick’s father, described him as “the best kid in the world”, in an interview with the Denver Post. He said it was not surprising to him that Kendrick was said to have charged one of the shooters as they entered a classroom.

    “I wish he had gone and hid,” said Mr Castillo, “but that’s not his character. His character is about protecting people, helping people.”

    Kendrick was an only child. Mr Castillo said he and his wife are “in a haze”.

  67. 67.

    HinTN

    @trollhattan:

    Mr Castillo said he and his wife are “in a haze”.

    JFCOAC, I bet they are. Their son was apparently a beautiful human being.

  68. 68.

    joel hanes

    It will be interesting to see if the Democratic members of the committee will be allowed to ask questions.

    Sen. Harris, these are your five minutes. I’m sure you’ll make good use of them.

    Sen. Feinstein, please give your time to Sen. Harris.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @trollhattan:

    Kendrick was an only child. Mr Castillo said he and his wife are “in a haze”.

    Sobbing. This is just so fucking wrong.

  72. 72.

    burnspbesq

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    The Rubio remarks Kristol tweeted were made in 2012, and related to Eric Holder. It is downright eerie how perfectly they fit the current situation.

  74. 74.

    Baud

    @Felanius Kootea:

    It is highly significant that Trump has never had an approval rating over 50% at any point in his presidency.

    Especially given the economy.

  75. 75.

    Roger Moore

    @Cacti:

    I still hold my belief that if the Dems had failed to win the House in 2018, there wouldn’t have been an election in 2020.

    There would have been an election, but it would have been about as meaningful as the ones in Russia.

  77. 77.

    khead

    @Baud:

    This expansion can’t last for another year. Of course, I said that last August and had to eat some shit for believing it.

  79. 79.

    Doug R

    @Chyron HR:

    Which of them gets to explain to Trump that he has to go for the good of the Republican party?

    Part of Barr’s deal-no jail time, resignation.

  80. 80.

    Steve in the ATL

    You people are doing almost as poor a job of entertaining me as this stupid “aqua man” movie. Thank god the wine is starting to flow, now step it up, Juicers—I know you can do it!

    Steve somewhere over the Atlantic

  85. 85.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    Trying to predict the economy is a fool’s errand.

    And Trump and Kudlow are those fools.

  87. 87.

    frosty

    @Steve in the ATL: You’re watching a movie about a guy who lives in the sea while you’re over an ocean putting your trust in Boeing??? “Stewardess, more wine, stat!!”

  88. 88.

    Doug R

    @Steve in the ATL:

    You people are doing almost as poor a job of entertaining me as this stupid “aqua man” movie. Thank god the wine is starting to flow, now step it up, Juicers—I know you can do it!

    Steve somewhere over the Atlantic

    Trust me, Aquaman gets better with wine, or is that a spoiler?

  89. 89.

    TenguPhule

    A frustrated Trump questions his administration’s Venezuela strategy

    We have a strategy for Venezuela now?

  90. 90.

    MomSense

    @trollhattan:

    It’s devastating. It shouldn’t make a difference but this one hit home in a different way for me because a family member goes to that school. He was home sick from school yesterday so he was safe but I don’t know how any of them will face school again after this. And that school is K-12 so there are very young children involved.

  94. 94.

    Steve in the ATL

    @TenguPhule: kudlow has that same touch as Stephen Moore: always wrong.

    @frosty: i keep saying “Ho bisogno ancora del vino!” but the flight attendants are Atlanta-based and they think I’m calling them hoes. Which maybe I am….

  96. 96.

    TenguPhule

    @Steve in the ATL:

    but the flight attendants are Atlanta-based and they think I’m calling them hoes. Which maybe I am….

    Rake it in while you still can.

  98. 98.

    TenguPhule

    China threatens to retaliate if Trump imposes higher tariffs, renewing tensions in trade war

    China warned Wednesday of retaliation if President Trump goes through with his threat to further raise tariffs on Chinese goods, setting up a potential escalation in a trade war that had seemed just weeks ago to be nearing its end.

    The trans-Pacific brinkmanship now spills over to face-to-face negotiations as trade talks resume late Thursday in Washington — just hours before Trump’s latest tariff threats are due to hit $200 billion in Chinese products.

    The Chinese warning — issued as China’s vice premier arrived in Washington — signaled that Beijing was prepared to take the same hard-line route as Trump and raise tariffs on American products in response.

    I’m sure those farmers and manufacturers are just loving this.

    Can’t wait for pork prices to crash.

  100. 100.

    Another Scott

    @khead: Someone wise once said, “Recoveries and expansions don’t die of old age.” Meaning, the Fed usually kills an expansion.

    The economy isn’t overheating (in the usual sense – there are still lots of people out of the workforce) so it’s hard to see the Fed jacking up interest rates enough to strangle the recovery.

    Some external shock may happen, but our economy is so huge, and we’re exporting oil now, etc., etc., it’s hard to see a recession happening soon. I suspect the Obama recovery will just keep plodding along, probably with 1-2% annual GDP growth.

    Caveat – I’ve been known to be wrong on occasion – Yes, it’s true!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  102. 102.

    khead

    @Another Scott:

    I kinda hate to say this, but…. You want Trump gone? Root for a recession. Last year I thought it was gonna be an oil shock. I was definitely wrong about that and paid for it. Not sure where it might come from now. Maybe debt load. Maybe farmers getting crushed. We are shopping for a new car (SUV) and – WOW – the car folks are really going with the hard sell. They have to be hurting.

  103. 103.

    Shana

    Dana Milbank has had his White House press credentials cancelled. As have a lot of other reporters. At what point can we say we’re in a fascist state? Now?

  104. 104.

    Another Scott

    @khead: US car sales are down from their recent peak, and the steel and aluminum tariffs aren’t helping. Plus, there’s continuing world-wide overcapacity in auto production. Either prices have to come down, or sales have to come down. And prices coming down when costs are going up isn’t a recipe for success. It’s a recipe for lots of hurt in the industry – especially as it tries to transition to electric vehicles.

    I’m not saying that Donnie won’t do something boneheadedly stupid (like shut down the government for 6 months or something) that can do a lot of damage to the economy (and the country). It’s just that there isn’t anything on the horizon that should cause a recession.

    Watch the numbers Bill McBride at https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/ assembles to know when the troubles are starting. (He sees no sign of a recession, either.)

    The only way Donnie can win is if he (and the GOP) cheats. That’s what we have to do everything in our power to prevent. And work to flip the Senate and every other legislative body we can. Winning back the White House isn’t enough to fix the damage that’s been done.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  107. 107.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    @TenguPhule: One of the things that I keep noticing when Trump goes for trade wars with China, is that once those contracts are gone with the US, they are GONE…….

    China can give equal (or slightly less) contracts with other countries, and once the new large scale contracts are finalized, why in god’s name would they go back to the USA, since whenever the Republicans are in control, we turn into a rage crazy mess, and we seem to be teetering on the edge of large scale political conflict? It might have worked immediately post WWII, since most of the rest of the world was a bombed out wreck and we had good social cohesion due to the war. Now? I’d look to other countries and see what options I have.

    Especially since Trumpy McCrankyPoopypants Has gone off (Again). Plus, looking at his history, throwing your money at a fire would be a more useful transaction, since you would get warm from the burning paper rather than a bald faced lie that it got lost in the mail (when you sent a personal courier).

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MomSense: Newtown did that for me. I lived there when I was in middle school. My younger brother went to one of the other elementary schools. I am very sure that some of my classmates had kids who went to Sandy Hook. It sticks.

  109. 109.

    jonas

    @TenguPhule: Playing chicken with the Chinese was probably a mistake. I guess their game of “whose citizenry can take more pain?” is afoot and the experimental subjects are Trump’s MAGAt supporters in the Midwest. Buckle your seatbelts.

  110. 110.

    Gemina13

    @trollhattan: I agree. Jesus wept, indeed. I watched my mother grieve lifelong for the children she lost, but she had 3 of us left. I can’t begin to imagine the agony that the Castillos are going through.

  111. 111.

    khead

    @Another Scott:

    Now that’s a golden oldie for me. Been a long time since I read Calculated Risk on a regular basis. Pretty sure it was during the housing crisis and Tanta was still alive.

  112. 112.

    Gemina13

    @khead: I need to start reading Calculated Risk again. I kept up with it from 2007-2011, and it was like reading a serialized horror stories most days.

  113. 113.

    khead

    @Gemina13:

    You want horror stories from back in those days? Three words: Irving Housing Blog. Lol.

    But, yeah, I should probably check out Calculated Risk again too.

  114. 114.

    Sab

    @khead: I just retired my Tanta memorial t-shirt last year. It had one of her excel spreadsheet artworks- portraits of the federal reserve board in little colored excel cells.

    My hairdresser (very sophisticated guy) used to laugh out loud when I wore it to appointments. He could name most of them.

    I think my brother had a long distance serious crush on her.

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