Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

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

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

In my day, never was longer.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Democrats are back in array!

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

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

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Lordy It’s The Tape: The President’s Fundraising Dinner Tape Has Been Released

Lordy It’s The Tape: The President’s Fundraising Dinner Tape Has Been Released

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The entire tape is out!

The closest I’ve found to a transcript is from Susan Simpson’s, a DC attorney, Twitter feed, which I’ll excerpt below and provide snarkmentary on:

Here’s the clip/part about Ambassador Yovanovitch.

The President apparently slept through the Korean War.

The President does not seem to understand 19th Century economic policy at all!

I got nothing…

Narrator Voice: Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were not, in fact, in the process of buying a Ukrainian petroleum company!

Let’s get serious for a minute, Ukraine is fighting for its sovereignty and national integrity, which is something that a nationalist-populist like the President is supposed to be all about. Every day that the US screws itself into the ground over and over again on its foreign and nat-sec policy regarding Ukraine, Europe, and Russia is another day that Ukrainians are being killed so that Vladimir Putin can recreate what he thinks are the necessary boundaries that Russia deserves to have as the Soviet Union’s successor.

As I referenced in this morning’s post, European Union member states provide approximately 2/3rds of all the aid to Ukraine. Which is more than what the US is providing.

Can you imagine this crowd with the munchies? No hamberder would ever be safe. And we’d soon experience a strategic KFC gravy shortage! Watching the President mesmerized by the size of his hands, however, might be fun to watch for a few minutes.

It will soon be Pam Bondi’s time in the barrel!

Ruh Roh! Clean up on aisle Bernie, clean up on aisle Bernie!!!!!

The President does not seem to know what cars are made of. Who knew?

Yep, Parnas, Fruman, Giuliani and a couple of oligarchs have set up an Ultra-Orthodox rabbi in Ukraine with something called the Anatevka Foundation, a fake village on the outskirts of Kyiv for Jewish refugees called Anatevka, and a bogus US scam charity the US Friends of Anatevka. Rudy Giuliani is the Honorary Mayor of Anatevka. And the pet rabbi appears to have declared that the President is the messiah through the use of gematria.  Yidee bidee, yidee, bidee, yidee bidee bidee buum! Also, obligatory:

Let’s see where were we? Oh, here we are:

And that’s a wrap!

Updated at 10:20 PM EST

I’ve added the three tweets, including the audio clip, where the President says to “take out” Ambassador Yovanovitch.

Open thread!

 

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  3. 3.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I was listening to the Very Stable Genius book while doing my chores today, playing “Who was the source for this chapter?” (Bannon’s on the record, so far I’d bet on Kelly and McGahn as anonymous sources). For this:

    Trump: I tell you they’re great fighters. … I think they are. They’re great fighters. They’ve been fighting for so long they don’t know what to do without fighting.

    I wonder if Putin was trump’s source– “They’ve been attacking us forever!”

  9. 9.

    VeniceRiley

    In the words of soon to be a mass of unemployed republican officeholders submitting their sketchy CeeVees to Fox/ think tanks/ xtian griftitutions: SO WHAT?

  12. 12.

    Mary G

    @Adam L Silverman: Bannon’s probably hooked up with Nicolas Fuentes and running a white supremacy movement that thinks there are too many RINOS in the party. They heckled Don Jr. and Kimberly whatshername at UCLA.

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Clicking around twitter because it’s the path of least resistance, I find this tweet identifying R Senators who did not vote for trump. Cracks me up that alleged “moderate” Susan Collins voted for Paulie Keg-Stands

    Robert Alexander @ onuprof

    Susan Collins voted for Paul Ryan

    Cory Gardner voted for Mike Pence

    Lindsey Graham voted for Evan McMullin
    Mike Lee, Utah voted for McMullin
    Rob Portman voted for Pence
    Dan Sullivan voted for Pence

    She is such a fucking fraud

  17. 17.

    dr. bloor

    Trump, laughing: “Can you imagine getting hit by a hundred pounds of drugs?”

    Honestly, it wouldn’t be nearly enough at this point.

  18. 18.

    zhena gogolia

    But apart from the Yovanovitch moment and the stupidity, I was kind of disappointed in the material on this tape.

  19. 19.

    Cheryl Rofer

    What I keep coming back to:

    Why is the President of the United States consorting with a couple of two-bit goons like Parnas and Fruman?

    Also, you left out the part about “taking out” Yovanovich. Those were the words Trump used about Qassem Soleimani after the fact. And why task Parnas and Fruman? They are not in the State Department chain of command.

  22. 22.

    kimp

    if this is what was secretly recorded by a couple of people that Trump didn’t know, imagine what his regular entourage has heard. Never mind Putin, China or the Saudis.

  23. 23.

    Patricia Kayden

    So have we reached the stage that a President telling thugs to “Get rid of her” is normal?  This should be enough to get him removed except that Republicans are putting him above loyalty to our country because Jesus.  Madness.

  24. 24.

    kimp

    if this is what was secretly recorded by a couple of people that Trump didn’t know, ( SNORT)imagine what his regular entourage has heard. Never mind Putin, China or the Saudis.

  25. 25.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Speaking of oil policy in Europe, during the Cold War, where did Europe get it’s oil for heating? Did the USSR supply it then? I tend to think this wasn’t the case.

    Also, why the fuck did Putin think it was a good idea to help put a manchild in charge of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal? For all the talk of how supposedly “smart” he is, that’s pretty stupid to me

  26. 26.

    trollhattan

    Happy Saturday, y’all.

    Rick Myers, Florida Man, Arrested Picking Mushrooms In State Forest With Alligator In His Backpack

  27. 27.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: I didn’t leave it out intentionally. I’ve been having Dashboard problems and I think I deleted it when trying to fix something else. I’ll add it back up top.

  28. 28.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Another Scott:

    I remember that back when it was on the ballot in Ohio in 2015. I got the feeling it failed mostly because of reactionary morons who didn’t want recreational marijuana legalized

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    @zhena gogolia: I’m very sorry that Balloon Juice was not able to provide you with entertainment value for your money this evening. If you’ll see Anne Laurie on the Mezzanine Level on you way out, she’ll provide a raincheck, three drink coupons (well only), and validate your parking.

  34. 34.

    Martin

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): They got it from the middle east, which is why they invested so much effort in colonization and overthrowing democratic leaders. Deposing Iran’s leader wasn’t the USs idea, it was the UKs. We just thought it was a good idea and helped out.

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: Because they gave several hundred thousand dollars to his inauguration committee, Parnas had been selling Trump condos since he was in high school apparently, and they’d laundered even more money to the President’s and other senior Republican officials’ PACs and SuperPACs.

  37. 37.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Martin: 

    Couldn’t Trump be repeatedly questioned about this recording? Or basically forced to awknowledge it? He can’t be allowed to ignore this recording.

  38. 38.

    randy khan

    @kimp:

    I’m trying to think of what other President this would have happened to, but there are so many things that fall into the same category with him that I guess it isn’t worth the effort.

  40. 40.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Martin:

    Thanks. Wouldn’t have encouraging mutual democratic values and subsequent good relations have ultimately accomplished the same thing in the end? Iran’s oil company was state-owned in the 50s.

  46. 46.

    marklar

    Man, if somebody can toss 100 pounds of drugs over a 30-foot wall, you’d think the NFL or MMA would be working on visas for them!

  47. 47.

    Keith P

    Does anyone else find it a little scary that the POTUS is recorded on tape by random people as often as we know?  I’m getting the impression that everyone who ever meets with Trump wears a wire.

  49. 49.

    The Dangerman

    It’s about time for the pee tape to drop, too. Might as well farce this thing to the max.

  51. 51.

    chopper

    Trump, laughing: “Can you imagine getting hit by a hundred pounds of drugs?”

    oh, we know what it’s like. every day for the last 3 years.

  53. 53.

    Jeffro

    @Cheryl Rofer: amen and amen.  ANSWER, trumpov!  Barring that, ANSWER, GOP Senators, for what you are ignoring this line of questioning!

    Jaysus, these clowns…we should all be grateful they are this unbelievably stupid.

  54. 54.

    Jeffro

    @Patricia Kayden: Can you imagine if President Hillz had said “get rid of him/her” about ANYONE?

    Literally even her garage door repairman or dog walker.  OMGHILLZSAID’GETRIDOFHIM’MURDERESS!!!!

    But you know, it’s trumpov + GOP ostriches, so what can you do?

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Keith P: Add that to the mobile stingray cellular collection units that have been placed all over DC and you might just have a counterintelligence problem.

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    @Cheryl Rofer: I still want to know more about this Saudi $1B that they supposedly deposited in order to buy our mercenary services er excuse me additional troops.

    Actually no I don’t, I just want all US troops home from the Middle East and central Asia, stat.  Let them all spin their wheels dealing with each other without our near-kids as bargaining chips for a while.

  62. 62.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Sherrod Brown or somebody ought to counter this

    Josh Hawley @ HawleyMO
    I have drafted motions to subpoena Adam Schiff, the “whistleblower,” Hunter Biden, and Joe Biden to testify. If the Senate calls witnesses, I will ask for votes on all these next week

    by drafting one for trump, make the Rs vote against it

    walter dellinger @ walterdellinger
    The one witness the House should insist upon is: Donald Trump. Why is this off the table when Pres Clinton was deposed all day in the Jones suit and for hours by Ken Starr before the Grand Jury w/ video for the Senate. Why allow the defense speculation about what Trump thought?

  65. 65.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It would be really nice if someone would report that it only takes 51 senators to vote to subpoena witness. There are 53 Republican senators. If they really wanted to subpoena and depose Congressman Schiff, VP Biden, and/or Hunter Biden, they don’t need to cut deals with the Democrats, they can just vote to issue the subpoenas all on their own.

  68. 68.

    Jay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Nope:

    After 1935 the APOC was called the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). A 60-year agreement signed in 1933 established a flat payment to Iran of four British pounds for every ton of crude oil exported and denied Iran any right to control oil exports.[5]

    In 1950 ongoing popular demand prompted a vote in the Majlis to nationalize the petroleum industry. A year later, the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq formed the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). A 1953 coup d’état led by British and U.S. intelligence agencies ousted the Mossadeq government and paved the way for a new oil agreement.[15][16] In 1954 a new agreement divided profits equally between the NIOC and a multinational consortium that had replaced the AIOC. In 1973 Iran signed a new 20-year concession with the consortium.[5]

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

    Following the Revolution, the NIOC took control of Iran’s petroleum industry and canceled Iran’s international oil agreements. In 1980 the exploration, production, sale, and export of oil were delegated to the Ministry of Petroleum. Initially Iran’s post-revolutionary oil policy was based on foreign currency requirements and the long-term preservation of the natural resource. Following the Iran–Iraq War, however, this policy was replaced by a more aggressive approach: maximizing exports and accelerating economic growth. From 1979 until 1998, Iran did not sign any oil agreements with foreign oil companies.

    Europe has “always” bought Soviet/Russian oil and gas.

    Commodity composition of Soviet trade differed by region. The Soviet Union imported manufactured, agricultural, and consumer goods from socialist countries in exchange for energy and manufactured goods. The Soviet Union earned hard currency by exporting fuels and other primary products to the industrialized West and then used this currency to buy sophisticated manufactures and agricultural products, primarily grain. Trade with the Third World usually involved exchanging machinery and armaments for tropical foodstuffs and raw materials.[1]

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

    With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian oil and gas became more “important” because pipelines already existed to the former Warsaw Pact nations, and many discovered there was good money in being a middleman.

  70. 70.

    Another Scott

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Meh.

    Donnie is brain damaged, but he’s got decades of experience with depositions.  Remember, after about a year, he answered written questions for Mueller.  He didn’t say anything other than what you’d expect (‘I have know specific recollection’ – that kind of thing).  After 4+ years of this stuff, the idea that there’s a smoking gun that will get the GOP to turn on him is madness.

    I expect there won’t be any witnesses, no matter Rmoney’s protestations.

    But, we’ll see.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  72. 72.

    Kay

    Billionaire presidential long shot Michael Bloomberg is trying to poach staff from other campaigns with outsized salaries and fancy perks like three catered meals a day, an iPhone 11 and a MacBook Pro, according to sources.
    Bloomberg is paying state press secretaries $10,000 a month, compared to the average going rate of $4,500 for other candidates and state political directors are making $12,000 a month, more than some senior campaign advisers earn, sources said.

    He’ll get them, too, paying twice the going rate.

    It’s such a weird thing, his campaign – “we will now buy this whole process” – I hope he sets up field offices so I can go look and see. What if they’re crazy-elaborate? I have to see one.

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    MoJo (from yesterday):

    The Trump Presidential Inaugural Committee was swimming in cash, and by the time the festivities had ended, it had raised over $107 million—far more than any other presidential inaugural in history. But it also spent extravagantly, and according to documents recently revealed as part of a lawsuit, staffers were worrying about the bad optics of some of their financial decisions even as they moved forward with them—much of it under the watchful eye of Ivanka Trump.

    The records made public as part of the lawsuit reveal that there was a real lack of separation between the Trumps as business owners and the Trumps as the incoming first family. Shortly after the 2016 election, as the newly formed committee was scrambling to organize inaugural events, Rick Gates, the committee’s deputy chair, received a quote from the Trump International Hotel in Washington for the cost of using the hotel’s ballroom. The price tag for the luxury DC establishment, housed in the historic Old Post Office building and owned and operated by the family of the president-elect was huge: $3.6 million for eight days of use, or $450,000 per day. Gates emailed Ivanka Trump, who owns a piece of the hotel, to raise his concerns.

    […]

    I expect more to come out. With any luck, the PayLess warehouses of shoes will come quickly and make an impact.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  76. 76.

    lgerard

    @Another Scott:

     

    This is not surprising.  I haven’t listened to this because I cannot stand trump’s voice, but one of the things Lev and Igor were indicted for (along with 2 others) was an attempt to bribe a few politicians in Nevada to obtain licenses for distribution of the evil weed.  The seem to have been acting for an “unknown Russian” who was financing the operation.

    Of course they would boast about this with trump

  77. 77.

    The Dangerman

    @Another Scott:

    I expect there won’t be any witnesses, no matter Rmoney’s protestations.

    Don’t they have to have this thing wrapped by the SOTU so Trump can take a victory lap?

    No, Donald, not a victory lap dance, victory lap.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    Bloomberg should poach Trump people. I, for one, would love that. They’ll take off that MAGA hat in a minute for 10,000 dollars.

  81. 81.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Another Scott: They’ll never vote to subpoena trump, I just want to put Collins, Gardner, McSally, Ernst, and Tillis in a bind. And Willard, The Cowardly Lion

    ETA: and just talking about a subpoena, daring him to testify, would drive The Beast nuts.

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    @Kay:

    So, Bloomberg is basically Google in this campaign. Needs moar slides and ballpits.

    Steyer counters by becoming Apple. Daily staff sun salutations to a Steve Jobs poster at 6:30 a.m.

  86. 86.

    Jeffro

    @Cheryl Rofer: It explains why this administration gets away with having few if any presidential* pressers and why the press secretary only goes on FOX: they’re only going to lie or babble or both anyway, so…yeah…it’s just depressing trying to cover sh** like that.

    Honestly, it’s one more thing that the RWNJs would never accept in the reverse.  I’m trying to picture a Warren or Harris press secretary never giving any WH press briefings, yet showing up on (MSNBC?) every night to give the administration’s spin.  Wouldn’t the entire country be immediately gripped by this one person drawing a government paycheck in order to spout partisan BS on a ‘partisan’ network?

    Stephanie Grisham, what we’re saying here is, your welfare payments are about to come to an end.  Make plans.

  87. 87.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Kay:

    Billionaire presidential long shot Michael Bloomberg is trying to poach staff from other campaigns 

    Why not just steal Harris’s campaign data?

    If it’s good enough for one billionaire vanity candidate…

  89. 89.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Another Scott:

    Did I ever say anything to offend you? If I did I sincerely apologize. The reason I say this, is I’ve noticed you never reply to any of my comments to you anymore. Not that you have to, of course, I just want to say I’m sorry if it’s because I said something dumb

  91. 91.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kay:

    I’m so sick of seeing his ads on TV and YouTube. All he’s trying to do is buy the nomination.

  94. 94.

    trollhattan

    @Kay:

    By god that’s genius! Big pile of cash and set up a teevee camera with the red light on for him to yell at.

  96. 96.

    Kay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I see them on local Toledo news. They used to bug me because they were so braggy, but it seems like he’s shifted. Now I like them because they’re all attacking Trump. People here don’t know who Bloomberg is- they only mention the Trump attacks.

  100. 100.

    Jay

    Schiff opted not to answer “Should the president’s lawyers be sanctioned for lying?” The reporter threw it out again as they exited.No response from managers. But House Dem attorney smiled at the back of the pack and told the reporter as he passed him “that’s a good question.”— Megan Mineiro (@MMineiro_CNS) January 25, 2020

  102. 102.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Another Scott:

    Okie dokie : )

    @Kay:

    The ones I always see spend like 5 seconds attacking Trump and the rest of the spot is about how Bloomberg “got it done” about the issue de jour as NYC mayor

  105. 105.

    chris

    OT_ With the fire hose of news it’s hard to keep up. Puerto Rico was just hit with another 5.0 earthquake. Between the shitgibbon and Mother Nature the place is being destroyed.

    The newest quake comes a day after hundreds of people in the island’s southern region were evacuated from earthquake shelters that flooded after heavy rains hit the U.S. territory. In the coastal city of Ponce alone, more than 350 people on Friday were moved back into a school that served as the initial shelter when the ground first began shaking, Angel Vazquez, the city’s emergency management director, told the AP.

  106. 106.

    mad citizen

    Live blogging: snl taking off on turtle, Susan Collins, and an old cast member doing Dersowitz

  108. 108.

    Jay

    @chris

    In a scene reminiscent of Puerto Rico’s turbulent Summer of 2019, several hundred protesters gathered on the streets of Old San Juan Monday, banging pots and pans, waving signs and demanding that Gov. Wanda Vázquez step down as anger grows over the botched delivery of emergency aid in the wake of earthquakes in the past month.

    The frustration comes after a government warehouse full of supplies was found on Saturday near the southern town of Ponce, close to the epicenter of a series of earthquakes. Much of the aid, including bottled water and baby food, had been sitting around since the disastrous 2017 hurricane season and was expired. But there were also cots, generators, batteries and emergency radios.

    Vázquez has called for an investigation and fired three of her staff members, including the head of the emergency management agency, Carlos Acevedo. But Vázquez — who became governor in August after her predecessor, Ricardo Rosselló, was ousted amid massive protests — said that she had been unaware of the storage facility’s existence until someone publicized it on social media.

    https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article239469148.html

  109. 109.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @mad citizen: so glad they’re dragging Collins. I hope it sticks. I don’t just want her to lose, I want her to be mocked and humiliated on her way to oblivion

  111. 111.

    Cthulhu

    @Another Scott: Recall that Parnas and pal were working to set up marijuana companies in NV. Those two are just working Trump for each and every one of their gifts they can.

  112. 112.

    patrick II

    It must be very difficult for Trump to carry two titles: President of the United States and King of Fools.

  113. 113.

    chris

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Anecdata: My aunt lives in southern Maine. She says that her Democrats are fired up and there are a bunch of new people coming out. She’s been guardedly optimistic since they kicked LePage out of the governor’s seat.

  114. 114.

    Jay

    New paper in the Harvard Misinformation Review w/ co-author Tom Wilson looking at how (dis)information campaigns work across platforms (Twitter, YouTube, media websites) to cultivate audiences and spread their narratives: https://t.co/KklTiJicHC— Kate Starbird (@katestarbird) January 24, 2020

  118. 118.

    Cthulhu

    @lgerard: Not so much a boast but an ask. “Please take marijuana off Schedule 1. We can make more cash if the Feds stop enforcement.”

  119. 119.

    Jay

    We normally look at Presidents and point out how quickly the office ages them. This is the first time that the President looks the same as he did on Election Day but the rest of the country looks ten years older.— jelani cobb (@jelani9) January 24, 2020

  120. 120.

    tomtofa

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Parnas, in describing the event, mentions that Trump turned to someone (can’t remember the name, but a government person) to make the “Get rid of her, take her out” comment.

    @marklar:

    In my younger, stronger, wilder days, I might – might – have been able to toss a hundred pounds of drugs over a 30 foot wall. But there’s no way I would have ;-)

  124. 124.

    Duane

    Imagine Trumpov sat at the dinner table saying these stupid, incriminating thing and he was not drunk.

  125. 125.

    hitchhiker

    Thanks for the Susan Simpson commentary. I’ve been watching her be smart in public since she did her signature deep dive into the Adnan Syed trial investigation documents that Sarah Koenig had so much “fun” with on the Serial podcast a few years back.

    Susan is relentless when it comes to sniffing out sources and exposing holes in arguments; she and a couple of other lawyers do a podcast now called Undisclosed, which involves the 3 of them walking methodically through cases of wrongful conviction (chosen by themselves after long investigations of their own) and trying to get guys out of prison.

    In one of their cases in Georgia, Susan managed to get a juror on tape explaining how she did some research of her own during deliberations, which convinced her to vote guilty. The research was faulty, of course. And she shared it with the other jurors. (!!)

    That guy’s case just might get a new trial, depending on all the machinations of appeals rulings. He lost a habeas petition in front of the Georgia SC, but then, unbelievably, the court let him appeal for reconsideration and changed its mind.

    One thing I’ve learned from Susan et al is how very, very hard it is to reverse a conviction. Expensive. Slow. Like, in the 100s of 1000s of dollars expensive, and in decades, not years, slow.

    Also that prosecutors can pretty much do whatever they want.

  127. 127.

    brantl

    @chopper:

    Trump, laughing: “Can you imagine getting hit by a hundred pounds of drugs?”

    oh, we know what it’s like. every day for the last 3 years.

    That’s 300 pounds of DOPE, chopper.

  128. 128.

    sdhays

    @Another Scott:Donnie is brain damaged, but he’s got decades of experience with depositions.  Remember, after about a year, he answered written questions for Mueller.

    “He” didn’t answer those questions; his lawyers, who were absolutely terrified of the “perjury trap” Dump would be walking into if he actually testified, wrote those for him. And even then he was found to have lied in them.

    After 4+ years of this stuff, the idea that there’s a smoking gun that will get the GOP to turn on him is madness.

    True dat. But video footage of him transparently (and pathetically) lying in his own trial wouldn’t be good for any Republican’s reelection campaign. He lies all the time, but he’s also quite stupid. There’s no way he would be able to deal with a skilled cross-examination in real-time while keeping his story straight – he never has had to before so he never developed that skill. Which is why he will never, ever testify.

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