More problems for Mueller in Manafort trial
The first trial by Robert Mueller’s special council investigation (supposedly about Russia collusion during Trump’s election) is not going well so far for Robert Mueller.
1. The trial of Paul Manafort has nothing to do with Russian collusion. In fact, after more than a year of investigation Mueller has yet to find any evidence of collusion.
2. Mueller might not be able to call his star witness, without which the judge told him he does not have a case.
3. Mueller’s attempt to demonize Manafort for living the high life went over very badly with the judge.
4. And today, the judge called an early recess, after apparently losing patience with the prosecution for its errors and attempts to slip improper testimony to the jury.
In general, the Mueller prosecuting team has looked like a clown show, both in the Manafort case as well as in its case against a Russian company that surprised Mueller by actually showing up in court. I don’t know yet if they will get a guilty verdict in the Manafort case, but to my eye it increasingly looks like they won’t. And if Mueller fails here, his entire investigation, which has appeared like a fraud from the start, will be discredited in plain sight.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The first trial by Robert Mueller’s special council investigation (supposedly about Russia collusion during Trump’s election) is not going well so far for Robert Mueller.
1. The trial of Paul Manafort has nothing to do with Russian collusion. In fact, after more than a year of investigation Mueller has yet to find any evidence of collusion.
2. Mueller might not be able to call his star witness, without which the judge told him he does not have a case.
3. Mueller’s attempt to demonize Manafort for living the high life went over very badly with the judge.
4. And today, the judge called an early recess, after apparently losing patience with the prosecution for its errors and attempts to slip improper testimony to the jury.
In general, the Mueller prosecuting team has looked like a clown show, both in the Manafort case as well as in its case against a Russian company that surprised Mueller by actually showing up in court. I don’t know yet if they will get a guilty verdict in the Manafort case, but to my eye it increasingly looks like they won’t. And if Mueller fails here, his entire investigation, which has appeared like a fraud from the start, will be discredited in plain sight.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Leftists decry political prisoners abroad. Demand them at home.
And the net result of all this politically motivated, manipulative, already been settled by Rosenstein himself foolishness?
Increasing sympathy for Trump IMO.
I can’t wait for the McCabe, Comey, Strzok, Brennan, Clapper, Ohr, Preistep, Steele, McCain, indictments and trials. (If only, now those would be some worthwhile trials, might even result in life sentences or worse? If only.)
When the FISA warrants are redacted the reality for these players in American politics is sure to change. If only.
It would suite me just fine if Mr. Manafort was found not guilty by the jury, or if he was found guilty a full pardon by the president for the abuse suffered at the hands of the power abusing federal government.
Its funny, I think we will be OK, maybe even a better place without his brand of extra nasty and questionable, even suspicious politics.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2018/08/02/meghan-mccain-glamour-interview-im-scared-america-without-dad-sen-john-mccain/889282002/
She is a pure bred American pit bull, I have no idea what the heck happened to him. Too many years in a cage and in Washington no doubt. It has to have its negative effects.
As long as the dems have something to hide, they will continue the fight even if it is clear they do not have a leg to stand on.
Jail time for some of the Obama officials is the driving factor in the sham.
This is that gray nether region of the Political realm where it has to be decided if and who will be sacrificed for their bad and for some, even seditious behavior. These slow walking political law enforcement and prosecution decisions are balanced between the need to keep viable the intelligence services level of immunity in their operations and trust and finding out who just went too far in their interpretation of their very unique jobs. There is a reason that there is all of that protocol and rules within duly passed law that they are required to follow.
And that line as we all can clearly see becomes something that they all can tend to forget about in THEIR subjective interpretation of what their job is. They tend to become the ultimate arbiters of what truth is and what justice is and in this particular case who will be the president.
And that is just a bridge too far! There will be, there must be reconciliation. Who will suffer consequences in a system where there are no longer consequences for illegal actions taken by those who are sworn to enforce the law and not become the law?
An example of how things are done in the Pedestrian realm. Arrest, jail, loss of freedom, extreme legal bills, FBI agents breaking into your home at 5 in the morning and terrorizing someones wife and the confiscation of your personal papers.
https://youtu.be/4yOVbVB0Pdo
Not so cut and dried in the Political realm.
Their excuse for their treasonous acts under the mantle of “prosecutorial discretion” will go down in the history blogs just as the term “plausible deniability” did for Watergate only this is far worse.
If it can be shown beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Manafort knowing failed to report tens of millions of dollars of income, then he should be convicted. I don’t enjoy paying income tax either, but that doesn’t stop me from writing a check payable to “U.S. Treasury” each quarter. As long as the system is in place, then I don’t see why those who evade it shouldn’t face the consequences.
I’d be very surprised if Mr. Manafort is acquitted, but I wouldn’t be particularly surprised at a hung jury. All it would take is one politically motivated juror.
Hey Kirk,
Don’t forget, Trump said your stupid if you pay taxes.
BSJ:
Why would one pay taxes that they are not legally required to pay?
And, wouldn’t you be stupid if you did?
Tax avoidance is legal. Tax evasion is not. Yes, one would be stupid to pay more tax than the law requires.
Spying on the political opposition is not legal. Using the government to do it is —–
BSJ has inadvertently (?) created “fake news”.
This is what BSJ said Trump said “Don’t forget, Trump said your stupid if you pay taxes.”
Trump never really said “Your stupid if you pay taxes”. Your “stupid” if you pay more than you are legally required to. This is just another phenomenon related to Trump and its probably a combination of what people think they hear and what they want to hear and it is compounded X’s Trumps own base Trumpian way that he naturally communicates. Trump will touch the subject and then if and when it becomes a controversy he clarifies. And when the statement is examined he really meant the latter.
Is this a function of his personality or is this a learned technique? I think its just Trump and his fundamental personal word salad personality that assists in his drive for what ever goal he is focused on. It must come in handy when signing a contract and after the fact he can claim “I did not say that”.
I point out once again, “Truth” is not what leadership is fundamentally about. Its manifesting the end result that becomes the “truth” that is primary, how you get there is just detail. The only question remains is this Benevolent or Malevolent? And in the context of Trump and his being president I say he is acting Benevolently and in the interests of the country and the Constitution. And that in the end is all I am interested in.
http://usdebtclock.org/
Take The Guns First, Go Through Due Process Second.
I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!
Go ahead Cotor, explain away that word salad.
I’m pretty tired of hearing people say Trump didn’t really mean what he said.
Great link wayne! Seems you’re getting tired of winning too. Eh?
The left needs this trial to taint the voter pool before the coming election.
If they can get a guilty on anything they can just cry that he was guilty so the Russia thing is true.
If they can get a bunch of baloney about Trump entered into court, true or not, They will treat it like it was true in the MSM. And that is exactly what the Judge is trying to stop.
They don’t actually care about sending this guy to jail they just want the “official” show. in court.
So far the judge is stopping this and thus a deal will be made long before the trial is even close to being over.
A small fine and no jail time.
If you watch the MSM is now ignoring the trial and trying to concentrate on the theme ‘Trump lied”.
Like that actually matters.
He is the President I expect him to lie about a LOT of stuff now.
And before the election, who cares?
During the election he lied no more or less than anyone else. So what?
Their latest lie is about some misquoted statistic from the justice department. Who cares? No one can quote statistics accurately anyways.
They are not saying he was wrong with the numbers he quoted. They are just saying they can not find the paperwork from the justice department he was supposed to quote. Not that the numbers were wrong.
So he lied!!!!!
BSJ:
You and many others may not like his style, but there it is.
” And in the context of Trump and his being president I say he is acting Benevolently and in the interests of the country and the Constitution. And that in the end is all I am interested in.”
Kirk wrote: “I’d be very surprised if Mr. Manafort is acquitted”
I wouldn’t. The prosecutor is so desperate that he is trying to tell the jury that the American dream is a crime. The dream is to do well, as Manafort has done. But now if you do well it is used against you in a court of law.
If the prosecutor only has a case due to a sole witness, then there is not much of a case.
So you’re in favor of a benevolent dictator now. One who’s first instinct is to stomp on First and Second amendments rights! Got it.
A world turned upside down. A world where people who call themselves ‘Real’ Republicans loudly cheer the President’s undying love of Vladimir Putin.
Sad times, indeed.
In ways Putin is more likable than many American politicians.
You know his motives, and can predict his actions.
Unlike our politicians who tell you one thing then do the exact opposite behind closed doors.
I am not in favor of any dictator, show me a dictator. Has the Constitution been suspended when I was not looking? Has Trump had his foes marched off to the deserts of the south west and had them disappeared? Has he recently banned any news organization from writing what he does not like? Has he ordered them closed down? Has he nationalized any oil company’s like was openly proposed by the likes of Maxine Waters? No to all.
What Trump says is what Trump says, its Trumpian, you should be used to it by now. Its what he does that has more import and indicates exactly NOT what you suggest in any way. And even if he desired bigley in his YUGE genius brain to do what I have listed above he still could not do it. Do you know why? Thats right, because there is something called the American Constitution, and from that comes the Congress and the Supreme Court that counter balances him and stops him from doing so. Which are in full operation counter balancing any action that any president might want to employ to actually become a dictator. At this point yours is a very emotional and weak argument.
So until that counter balancing structure has been hollowed out and torn down which IMO is what the Democrats were and are promoting whether they fully understand it or not, what you propose is just not so.
So the fact of the matter is that the president has a street talk / bravado / manipulative way about him that works very well for him and there are some in the country who are offended by it and are unable to see the bigger picture. That would apparently include you and “Molten”.
If and when that changes, he goes too far, I will be the first to point it out. Why? Because it is well understood that that is the nature of power. But IMO Trump may speak in course and disturbing non status quo ways to some but that seems to be the only direct communication style our own politicians and those politicians around the world desperately need (They are like children in many ways, doing bad things until a true leader tells them to stop it, and means it.)
It has taken at least 30 to 70 years to get to this precarious point that we find ourselves where our politicos in both party’s have surrendered elements of our legal system, elements of our sovereignty and elements of our Constitution to the leftist agenda of American Constitution and world destruction. And there appeared one man that has been able to stop that un American slide towards true dictatorship, and that man today is D.J. Trump.
Like it or not BSJ THAT is the truth of the situation that we all find ourselves with. Please consider a slightly modified position. (And yes Wayne, the deficit is unreasonable and will have to be dealt with in some rational manner, eventually)
And PS:
The Putin narrative is also weak. When you come to understand the true nature of what is on going in the world you will understand that it is the Chinese that pose the real and existential threat to the U.S. and the rest of the world and it is in Putins interests to ally with the U.S. in order to short circuit this plainly stated by the Chinese potential. The Chinese by their own internal stated policy intend world domination and some say their internal policy plans on a hot war with America by 2030 to solidify their aspirations.
Lets just call Russia and Putin a Frenemy.
The Chinese are besides themselves with Trump drastically changing the “New World Order” model back to the U.S. based model. They were just waiting for the moment in time when they could just announce to the world the Chinese millenium has begun, and no one could do anything about it because the American leftist convinced us to auto castrate ourselves. What a concept.
Thank you to the last 4 American presidents, Bush sr., Clinton, Bush jr., and of course the Marxist philosophy / Obama Socialist dream lead in to the first woman president of the United States, Hillary Clinton, the most corrupt of them all, coup de gras and the U.N. for that little piece of wonderfulness and potential.
Sorry but no one is falling for the BS that Trump loves Putin or Trump is a dictator.
If trump was trash talking other nations leaders and working against them he would be called an idiot for not working with them.
Obama was praised for paying off Iran and shipping extra food to HK.
Trump is called a dictator lover for just having a good dinner with them.
The hypocrisy is thick as scat on the left. And I see no evidence that anyone who voted for Trump is falling for it. Those who voted against him will only tum to his side if they see the left news media and the investigation are going to far. And both are getting pretty obvious.
Yeah, silly me for thinking that what a man says, is what he means.
I doubt Trump has ever read the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights, nor even cares what it means. He certainly has no idea what the Second Amendment means. As he has proven every time he speaks on ‘gun’ issues. (Before issuing a correction)
But he said “no one supports Second Amendment people” more than him, so that’s what counts. Apparently.
He is a danger to the Constitution. Plain and simple. I will not wait until after he has done the damage to complain…
Yes, you are being silly.
All presidents are a “Danger” to the Constitution (Thats why they are all counter balanced, they are not omnipotent), this one however is the least threat. It was the four presidents that preceded him that you needed to worry about, but you detected nothing. What you are witnessing is entirely unfamiliar to you and many others. There is only moving ahead with what we have got, what you propose is to slip back into the status quo republican / democrat New World Order death spiral. And I will not wait until after they have done that damage.
It is in the ether that this administration is very close to revealing much about previous administrations, specifically the Obama administration and how it directed and ran the coupe with the help of foreign actors against a duly elected president. Do you approve of that?
The FISA redactions will also prove very interesting and that should be coming soon. Then we will be very interested in what you have to say.
Actually Trump has very quietly pushed our gun rights forward and set back some restrictions placed by presidents before him.
Obama stopped the repatriation of thousands of M1 Garands from South Korea and the Philippines.
He also stopped the sales of other Us military weapons to the civilian market. Like the 1911’s the CMP is getting ready to sell.
But Trump ended all this and is allowing the importation and sale of the weapons.
And lets not forget the Supremes he is getting to install to the court. Way more conservative and pro gun than ANYTHING the left would have put in.
So exactly what has Trump done to take away your gun rights?
Not some state court, not some federal court, Trump, what has he done?
DISPELLING THE TRUMP / RUSSIA POLITICAL NARRATIVE
I have a friend who is a Liberal (I know some of you might find that hard to believe, but its true :). And each time we greet each other now his standard first comment to me is “Hello comrade”. And by doing this he of course is referencing the “Trump is obligated to or is being blackmailed by or is in some manner controlled by Putin”, the Democrat / MSM / DNC narrative.
This particular political narrative, which is really the only strategic political narrative that the Democrat party has at the moment. Or lets say that that is one of the strategic narratives that they have going in order to somehow counter the many positive forward moving agendas that Trump is pushing like an unstoppable Caterpillar D11.
This of course is a conflated and self serving Democrat / DNC / MSM narrative that in all honesty has been helped along by Trump himself in some ways. During the campaign Trump flippantly did ask for Russian help in finding those pesky and mysteriously missing 30K, Hillary “Yoga” emails from her illegal server. And Trump has sold real estate to Russian millionaires and billionaires. Where else would a good Russian hide his or her ill gotten gains? In New York real estate just like the Chinese, and Japanese, and Italian, and French, and English etc. millionaires and billionaires do.
And of course we find out that Don jr. met with a female Russian lawyer who represented that she might have some damaging dirt on Hillary, not a surprising revelation to me. Like we need more evidence than the $145 million the Russians pumped into her “Foundation” in trade for the Uranium One deal being allowed by her State Department. And have no doubt, that is exactly what that now well understood deal was about. This will all be revealed in a more comprehensive manner in the coming FISA revelations about how the FBI, the CIA and the NSA were conspiring with foreign government intelligence agencies to set up this Russian narrative in order to remove a duly elected American president that they did not prefer. How do you feel about that?
So to me the easiest way to destroy this entire simplistic narrative is by asking this very rational and very American question:
Q: How does Trump fool the following without doubt American patriots to serve in his administration?
Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pompeo
National Security Advisor, John Bolton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Bolton
And CIA Director Gina Haspel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Haspel
A: Trump could not and nothing he could ever do or offer to them would ever make them serve such a counter intuitive and anti American president as is proposed by the leading Democrat / DNC / MSM Liberal operations. So to mouth the words and continue to promote such a ridiculous story line may sound good to those who need to wrap themselves in a political narrative Blanky that they believe they can use as a political weapon of sorts, but it just not real nor can it be rationally sustained.
(Not that politics is about being rational)
MAGA